Witch Way Now?
by Heaven Born Captain
Summary: COMPLETE. Harry Potter Xover. Cole joins the staff of Hogwarts. Set in HP5 OotP and immediately after Centennial Charmed. Rumours have Cole looking for his lost son. Will he find him and himself along the way? Cole/Phoebe pairing in later chapters.
1. A Change is Gonna Come

Full Summary: Charmed/Harry Potter Crossover. Cole joins the staff of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Set in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and mid-season 5 of Charmed. Cole hears rumours about his lost son. Will he find him in time? And can he find himself along the way? Cole/Phoebe storyline in later chapters.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, locations or storylines from Charmed or Harry Potter. I have the utmost respect for J.K. Rowling and the writers, producers and directors of Charmed and do not intend to infringe copyright laws. I am not making any profit from this story and am writing it for my enjoyment and the enjoyment of others.

A/N: Hey everyone. Before I begin I ought to let you know that this is my first fic. Whilst I am fairly good at writing and I have an experienced fanfic writer editing my work, I would appreciate any constructive criticism so that I may improve my work.

**Chapter One: A Change is Gonna Come**

"Potion," Paige called out and the vial in Cole's hand disappeared in a swirl of orbs and reappeared in her own.

"I do hate long goodbyes," she said, about to throw the potion.

"No!" Phoebe said, grabbing the vial from her red-haired sister.

"Phoebe, are you crazy?! Throw it before he shimmers out," cried out Paige, barely able to contain her surprise.

Phoebe looked at Cole, waiting for a response.

"She's not gonna throw it. Are ya?" said Cole, quietly.

"Throw the potion!" Paige demanded while Phoebe continued to look into the eyes of her ex-husband.

"We've been through so much together," continued Cole, "We... Our love's so strong, nothing can destroy it. Not even this. We're meant to be together."

Phoebe smiled at him; then lifted her arm.

"I don't think so!" Phoebe exclaimed, throwing the vial at his chest.

Everything froze around him. Cole saw the vial just an inch from his body. He turned around to see Alpha and two other Avatars of whom he did not know, but had felt their presence.

"I warned you about this, Cole. You do not know what can happen when you alter your past," Alpha stated simply.

"Now come with us," he continued, "You belong with us now. Leave this world behind while you still can. Remember, Cole, you have the limitless power of the Avatars, now. You are a part of the collective."

"I didn't sign up to your little band of folk heroes to save the world."

"But it's who you are now," Alpha uttered, unsure of how to relate to Cole now.

"Look, I don't want these powers. I have no interest in your cause and it's not what I became an Avatar for. You're all powerful. Take them back," barked Cole, his patience dwindling on its last thread.

"I'm not going to remove your the powers granted to you by the collective," replied Alpha, "It is your path. It is your destiny."

However, the look on Cole's face and the body language he was radiating told Alpha that he was in search of a new path and it was pointless to argue with him.

Reluctantly, Alpha gave in. He merely said, "Fine."

And with the wave of his hand, Cole felt his connection to the collective power of the Avatars leave him. Not a moment later, the three Avatars used their power to reverse the reality and bring everything back to how it used to be.

Cole felt lost and confused back in the world he tried so ardently to escape from. With one last lingering look at the penthouse he had called home for more than a year, he packed a bag and set off in search of 'greater things.'

**oOo**

After hearing Harry rave and rant for five minutes straight, the Weasley twins thought they may as well check it out.

"Hello, Harry," said George after just Apparating into the room, "We thought we heard your dulcet tones."

Meanwhile, downstairs in the dining room of the exceptionally large and ancient house of Black, most of the Order of the Phoenix were convening to discuss the latest developments in the struggle against Lord Voldemort.

Molly sat beside her husband, lost in thoughts of how her twin sons were going to disrupt the meeting this time. She hoped that the Imperturbable Charm that she put on the door would be sufficient to shut them out of this meeting. Her thoughts were interrupted, however, by her sometimes hairy companion.

"We need help, Dumbledore," Lupin said, leaping into his well-prepared argument, "You expect us to do the impossible and you expect us to do it alone. We can't fight demons from the Galeic world. Our wand-waving has proven to be, time and time again, little match for their fire power. We cannot delay this any longer. We need allies. Good witches from the Galeic world."

"Not many will come to the Hekabeic world to fight our fight, Remus," Dumbledore replied, "They have their own battles."

"What about the great Charmed sisters, the power of three, that we have heard so much about," asked Sirius, scoffing at the idea that nobody else had even thought to consider them, "Did they not vanquish the Source of All Evil, the ruler of the Galeic underworld, last year? Surely they will be strong enough to fight with us."

"They have their own demons to fight," stated Mad-Eye, coming to Dumbledore's aid.

"In addition to this, they are awaiting with anticipation, the birth of the Twice-Blessed Child," explained Dumbledore, "And before you ask, I do not think we can use the child, powerful as it may be, to aid our efforts. But I agree with you. Now is the time to make allies with our neighbours from the Galeic world."

"How can you be sure that we can trust them?" asked Severus. Everyone turned to look at him, not only because it was the first time he put any input into this discussion, but also because it was a question nobody had thoroughly considered.

"They have been notoriously unreliable in the past," he continued, "They have a habit of putting themselves before any greater good."

"Okay, we should leave this here before the meeting goes into midnight, yeh?" piped up Sirius, secretly not really wanting the increasingly heated discussion to close, but his stomach said otherwise, "Am I the only person here that's starving?"

"I agree, we have discussed this enough for one evening. Remember the schedule we have set up, keep guard over your posts, and please be careful, especially with the Ministry as it is now," said Dumbledore, getting up to make his way to the exit and signalling that the meeting had drawn to a close.

"Great. Food. 'M starvin'," yawned Mundungus, waking up after dozing throughout the whole meeting.

One by one the members of the illustrious Order of the Phoenix got up from their seats at the table, either to help with dinner or to make their way out the front door of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.

**oOo**

Cole was freezing down to his bones, which was saying a lot considering he was all powerful and invincible. Clearly, shimmering to the Himalayas to finally get some space was not the best idea he could've come up with, but with his current mental state and a psychiatric folder marked 'clinically insane,' Cole thought that it was indeed a very good idea.

Bored by his immense power, he began flicking energy balls at the mountains, slowly increasing their voltage each time, until he felt the Earth move beneath him.

"Oh how the mighty have fallen, Cole," said a voice behind him.

Cole turned to see the wise and kind face of the old, white-haired wizard that he had befriended only a few months earlier.

"Dumbledore," he began, "I must say I'm surprised to see you here. May I ask why you thought it necessary to track me down and drag away from the small pleasures I have left in this life?"

"Does your offer still stand?" asked the astute, old man, "Will come to the Hekabeic world to fight alongside us in our time of great need?"

"Have you not heard about my recent adventures?" replied Cole, "I've gone mad."

"Once you followed a path, Cole. The good path, the right path," Dumbledore began, "And yet you turn away from it. You're a good person, Cole, and you don't deserve to be tortured like this."

For the first time in a long time, Cole could not refute this. He was surprised by the vote of confidence, but also glad to hear that someone still believed in him.

"Don't follow this path for Phoebe, Cole," Dumbledore went on to say, "But follow it for _you_."

Cole hesitated for a moment. For a while now he did not know what he wanted for himself. He only thought of his undying love for Phoebe, knowing full well that it would not save him. Yet he asked himself, was a life dedicated to achieving the greater good alongside his recently attained mentor worth it? He made his decision.

"What would you like me to do?" answered Cole, finally.


	2. A Surprising Offer

A/N: Sorry I forgot to mention this in the first chapter, but I have used the terms Hekabeic and Galeic to describe the respective Harry Potter and Charmed universes. An explanation for these words is given in a later chapter. Please review.

Disclaimer: I don't anything in Harry Potter or Charmed and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter 2: A Surprising Offer**

"Are you settling in okay?" Dumbledore asked Cole.

The two were sitting in his office at Hogwarts, where Cole had been assigned a room to accommodate him.

"The Order has been facing challenges of late, Cole. The Ministry has made it nigh impossible for us to recruit new members and demons from your world are answering Lord Voldemort's call. They are joining his Death Eaters and I know that you can understand how difficult it is for us to fight them."

"Which is where you come in?" Dumbledore then said, looking expectantly at Cole.

"You want me to fight demons," Cole replied, chuckling, "Sure. I wanna be helpful."

"Not just that, my dear friend. I want you to teach the members of the Order how to. And I want you to teach the next generation of witches and wizards how to fight the dark forces of your world, too."

"You want me to teach at Hogwarts!?" Cole exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

"I asked the Wizengamot to allow for the introduction of a new subject. The Study of Galeic Magic," Dumbledore replied, "And I could not think of someone better-suited to its role."

"Oh yeh, the Ministry will let my demonic powers teach their precious Hogwarts students," scoffed Cole.

"They don't need to know about them and since the Ministry had plans to ally themselves with good in the Galeic world, most Wizengamot members agreed with me. At least enough to have the motion passed," replied Dumbledore, as Cole once again sat down.

"But I don't know how to teach. I've never done it in my 117 years walking this Earth. Are you sure about this?" asked Cole, very unsure of himself.

"Have faith, Cole. I do. I think that you will make an excellent teacher and you're knowledge of the subject is more extensive than any other person I know," answered Dumbledore, patting Cole of the back, "Just you wait. You will enjoy yourself."

"Are you planning to tell the other teachers of my true origin? Or are you going to let them think I'm a witch?"

"Well I believe that most teachers will find out eventually, but we must work hard to ensure that Dolores Umbridge does not, otherwise the consequences could be catastrophic for both of us," replied Dumbledore while Cole took in what he said.

"Wait a sec. Umbridge- the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. What does she have to do with it?"

"Educational Decree Number Twenty-Two was passed early this morning. Minister Fudge selected her as a candidate for the Defence Against the Dark Arts position."

"As a spy, more likely," Cole said grimly.

"Yes well we will need to be careful, okay?"

"Sure. I believe I owe that much to you for pulling me out of the gutter."

"No thanks necessary. Now you should have some breakfast. Today I want you to teach members of the Order the spell and potion skills needed to defeat the Galeic demons and anything else that comes our way.

And with that the two men parted.

**oOo**

"Apparently we're taking a new subject this year," exclaimed Hermione, jumping on Harry's bed after a long day's cleaning.

"How is that even possible?" asked Ron, "We're doing our OWLs this year and we have to do an extra subject."

"I'm sure they'll take it into account during the examination, Ronald," replied Hermione, rather condescendingly, "It's called the Study of Galeic Magic and I think it'll be fascinating."

"I wonder who's teaching it," pondered Harry, "Will it be someone from our world or the Galeic world?"

They had learnt about the two spheres of magic in most of their classes, although they did not know much about the other world.

"I've never even seen a magical being from the other world before," stated Ginny in awe.

And with that the twins entered the room.

"Hey, did you guys here about the new teacher and subject?" Fred asked, crashing on top of Ron's bed and squashing Pigwidgeon.

"Great. Someone new we have to learn to manipulate," said George, over the squeaks and squeals of Ron's tiny, yet surprisingly loud, furball.

"Hey you lot," came the voice of Mrs. Weasley from downstairs, "This isn't naptime. We still have to clean out the closet beneath the stairs before you leave tomorrow. I thought you said you wanted to help the Order. And you all better be fully packed."

'_That's mum,'_ thought Ron as he pulled a pair of socks out of Pig's gnawing beak, _'guilt-tripping us with the Order.'_

**oOo**

It was the evening before school started and Cole was just returning to Hogwarts after spending the day with Lupin, Mad-Eye and Kinsgley vanquishing demon after demon with the new skills that he had taught them. He had left them just as night had fallen, hoping to get in at least two hours of reconnaissance in the Underworld before returning to Hogwarts and he could not ignore what he learnt.

"Lord Voldemort is attempting to reorganise the Underworld under his rule," Cole told Dumbledore quickly, bursting into his office, "He has made plans several upper-level demons to attack and capture young Harry and I must say, Dumbledore, these demons are very effective."

"How do you think fairs their chances of getting into Hogwarts, Cole?" asked Dumbledore calmly.

"They will find it difficult, sir, but not impossible," he replied, with very little interest in what he was saying, "I think they are a very real threat to us right now."

"Hmmm, this may become a problem. You seem lost in your thoughts. I understand that you are worried about Voldemort and his control of both worlds. It will not bode well for your beloved and her sisters if he takes over that world, too."

Cole looked up at the wise wizard, but said nothing.

"But what else is on your mind, my young friend?" asked Dumbledore softly, with reverence in his voice.

"Whispers in the Underworld," Cole replied simply and quietly.

Dumbledore waited for him to continue. Cole took a breath and went on.

"As you may know, last year when I was overtaken by the Source, Phoebe was pregnant with my son. But he was the spawn of the Source, I do understand that. But I can't shake the feeling that he's out there somewhere. There are demons that do not want to submit to Hekabeic rule. They plan to find the Grimiore and resurrect the former Source with all his power. If that Source has the power, then I can't help but wonder, what happened to my son?"

"It is not something I think you should dwell on, Cole," answered his mentor, "You're son was separated from the Source in the Demonic Wasteland, I thought you knew this."

"I didn't," said Cole questioningly, "I thought the Seer said that he was all Source?"

"That was not possible," replied Dumbledore, "The soul of your son existed inside, he was still part-human, but it would never have shown through. The influence of the Source was too strong."

"So where is he now?" Cole questioned.

"In another plane," Dumbledore answered, "I don't know how, but he did not remain in the Wasteland. Before you ask, I do not know which plane, or how to get there, and I have no way of discovering that information, so I think it would be better for you to move on from this, Cole."

"Have you read through the alterations Dolores made to your curriculum?" he asked, changing the subject.

Cole, recognising defeat, stood and moved towards the door he had entered through.

"About to do it right now, Sir," he replied.

And with that he left Dumbledore alone in his dark office, surrounded by his grand collection of artifacts and portraits of headmasters gone.


	3. Eat, Drink and Be Merry

A/N: Thanks to everyone who added the story on their alert list. I feel special. And thanks CoTu for the review. I'm uploading 2 chapters now.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from either Harry Potter or Charmed and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Three: Eat, Drink and Be Merry**

It was almost six o'clock and students were already sitting down at their respective house tables as Professor Cole Turner made his way to the Great Hall. Dressed in a brand new black robe, underneath it a black suit with a blue shirt and tie, he felt his appearance was becoming of a teacher. Taking his place at the staff table, Cole was seated next to Professor Sprout and Professor McGonagall, although she had not yet sat down since she was leading in the first-years.

"Have you been enjoying your time at Hogwarts so far?" piped up the small, squeaky voice of Professor Flitwick.

Cole turned to realise that the question was directed at him. "Oh, I've enjoyed it. I've definitely learnt a bit about this world," Cole replied politely.

As more students paraded in through the grand entrance into the Great Hall, Cole's attention was drawn to one student in particular, with messy, dark brown hair, green eyes and a lightning bolt scar across his forehead.

"Harry Potter," Cole muttered to himself. He had never seen the boy before, but naturally, had heard his legend.

Harry found himself looking up at the staff table as soon as he walked into the Hall. After seeing Umbridge and Grubby-Plank, his eyes darted across to Cole, resting on him for a moment.

"Ooo," piped up Lavender, "Look at the gorgeous new teacher, Parvati." And with that all of the fifth-year Gryffindors directed their attention to Cole, who realised this and diverted his gaze from Harry to begin chatting with Sprout.

"So, Professor Spout," Cole began, "Any idea when the food will be coming out?" Sprout looked at him as though he dared to ask if they could skip the formalities and jump straight to dinner. Seeing the look on her face, Cole decided that it was better for him to stop talking.

The talking in the Great Hall slowly died down as McGonagall made her to the staff table, followed closely by a nervous bunch of first-years. Cole was watching intently as she placed a stool down in front of the students and a somewhat decimated, patched-up hat on top of it. He had heard all about the Sorting but had never actually seen the ceremony.

Cole was so astonished when the brim of the hat opened to form a mouth and began to sing that he nearly fell backwards off his chair. Thankful to The Powers That Be that he didn't, he listened carefully to what the hat had to say. Cole felt as though its muse had worked overtime to prepare lyrics to his tune, comparing its outstanding linguistic skills to ex-wife's spell-writing abilities. Cole tried to quickly throw her out of his mind, reminding himself that his universe was no longer centred on her. However, he began to dwell on his life with Phoebe, and continued to do what he had been doing all day- obsessing himself with thoughts of the life he could've had with his son.

His thoughts were soon interrupted by applause and murmurs across the Great Hall as McGonagall gave the crowd a stern look and began to read out the names of the first-year students. Cole enjoyed watching the young ones propel themselves forward to sit on the stool, with no clue as to what was really going on.

As soon as the Sorting was complete, the Headmaster rose to his feet to welcome everybody back to the new year. When he had finished, Cole saw the platters in front of him fill with glorious food. Chops, pies, steaks, vegetables- it was too much for Cole, who hadn't had a meal like it since he lived at the Halliwell Manor. Helping himself to as much as he thought he could eat, he was finally starting to enjoy himself.

Attempting, once again, to make polite conversation with one of his colleagues, Cole turned to McGonagall asking, "So Professor McGonagall, how long have you been at Hogwarts?"

Shocked to hear the new teacher ask her something, she nearly choked on her potato. "Thirty-nine... years," she managed to get out, before washing it down with a glass of wine. "Have you settled into our world yet, Professor Turner?"

"Well I have to say, it's very different. It's so distinctly separate from the non-magical community. In my world, we have no choice but to assimilate wholly, and at the same time, hide who we truly are." Cole shrugged, glad to be making conversation with someone. However, the look on Umbridge's face told him that it was better for him to cease to talk his world, in case he let anything about his nature slip. Instead, he went back to his food.

When the feast had finally come to a close, Dumbledore stood to once again address the school. He was, however, soon interrupted by Professor Umbridge. Cole listened carefully to her speech. He was discouraged by her words about halting progress, and especially disheartened by her comparison of Galeic magic to any other lesser form of magic.

Whilst Harry and Ron did not pay any attention to waffle coming out of Umbridge's mouth, Hermione understood perfectly the purpose of Umbridge's occupation in the school. "The Ministry is interfering with the school-," Hermione started to say, before Harry interrupted her.

"What about Professor Turner," Harry said in a low voice, "That speech made it sound like the Ministry wants to throw him out on his behind."

"I thought you weren't listening, Harry," Hermione replied. "No, I was. Well at least to that part," answered Harry.

**oOo**

After the feast, Cole returned to his room, choosing to get an early night. However, finding that he couldn't sleep, he decided he may as well check out the library. Since early yesterday, most of his thoughts dwelled around his lost son. If there was any way that he could rescue him from whatever plane he was sent to, he was going to try it.

Entering the dark library, he headed to the Restricted section, knowing that the book that could help him was more than likely housed there. After asking Madam Pince very nicely to open it up, Cole found himself immersed in literature for the remainder of the night. Regardless of the many books he read on resurrection, travelling between planes and locating a soul, Cole did not find anything at all to help.

He picked up one last book, _Blood to Blood_, and read through it. "At last," he cried. This book not only had an exact replica of the 'blood to blood spell' from the Halliwell _Book of Shadows_, but it also explained how it could be used to track and locate any person on any plane with the right potion and amount of power. Grateful, Cole took the book back to his office, leaving a note on the library counter to let Pince know that he had done this.

Sitting down in his very empty office, Cole lit a few candles to make sure he had enough light to understand the spells in the book. Reading for what seemed like hours, Cole finally fell asleep where he sat.


	4. Professor Turner

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from either Harry Potter or Charmed and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Four: Professor Turner**

Cole woke up the following morning with start, taking in his fresh, new surroundings. It took him a few seconds to realise that he had fallen asleep on the old, tattered book that he had been reading the night before. Looking at the clock on his wall, he realised he'd missed breakfast and had a class starting in 30 minutes.

"Great. Just great," he mumbled to himself as he quickly put on black pants, a white shirt and his black robe over the top.

Cole had his first-years at nine o'clock that morning. Still caught up with thoughts of his lost son, Cole planned a theory-only lesson for them, knowing that they may not enjoy it too much, but at least Umbridge would be happy.

**oOo**

Immediately after his third-year class in the afternoon, Cole headed to the library, passing Umbridge on the way, who praised him on his first day of lessons. Not bothering to find out how she knew about what went on in his class; he shrugged her off and headed in the library's direction.

Once again, he headed in the direction of the restricted section, searching for books that could help him in his travels between planes. He had experience with plane travel when he was hiding from the Source two years ago, but it was limited, and he knew that this time he needed to know how to get to one particular plane.

Hermione looked up from her Potions essay of the properties of moonstone to see her Galeic Magic teacher immersed in a pile of heavy and rather ancient-looking books. She squinted to see the title of the book he was currently reading- Safe Travel between Parallel Planes. Seeing him look up and in her direction, Hermione immediately returned to staring at her essay, hoping that he didn't catch her looking.

Cole began to notice that some students were watching him. He could've swore he saw a young, bushy-haired Gryffindor girl staring at him, so he got up and left, taking the book he was reading with him, but returning the rest to the counter.

**oOo**

Cole's first lesson the following morning was with the fifth-years. He was looking forward to seeing the great Harry Potter in action, having heard so much about him, so he planned to do a practical component during the lesson.

The fifth-years strolled in a couple of minutes after nine and sat down, immediately turning around to chat to one another. Cole chuckled at this and immediately hushed them quiet. He stood up from behind his desk and walked to the front of the classroom. Most were watching him carefully, interested in what he had to teach them.

"I understand that you would have picked up some information about the Galeic world here at Hogwarts, or at home. I want you all to bear in mind that what you may have learnt already may be incorrect, so I implore you to ask questions throughout the lesson," Cole began.

"Can anyone tell me how the two magical worlds came about?"

Hermione's hand shot up in the air before Cole had finished his question.

"Yes, Miss...?"

"Granger. Hermione. The origins of the two magical worlds have been traced back to the division of magical power by Hecate, the Greek Goddess of witchcraft, ghosts and magic."

"Yes. Her magic was divided and given to Hekabe, the Trojan Queen and Gale, the witch. As you may have guessed, your world originates from the magic of Hekabe, which built up in Europe since the Ancient Greek empire. On the other hand, the witch, Gale, passed her magic down to the indigenous communities, including the Native Americans and the Aztecs. Thus, the two distinct, but inextricably connected, magical worlds were established."

Cole stopped his lecture, noticing that Hermione's arm was, once again, in the air. "Yes?"

"I was wondering, Sir," she began, "why is that Galeic magic is so often referred to as Wicca? Is that term incorrect?"

"No, it's not incorrect," he replied, "but it only refers to the magic of the witches, not the demons, warlocks, whitelighters and other magical beings in the Galeic world."

Hermione nodded in understanding, ferociously scribbling down what he'd said.

"So as I mentioned, witches are not the only magical beings in the Galeic world. The sides of good and evil are not as easy to determine in this world. Demons and warlocks are traditionally associated with evil, but don't make the mistake of thinking that they are all evil, just as you shouldn't think that all Wiccan witches are good. All pure-blood demons and warlocks are born without a soul and are, therefore, prone to evil-doing. The two differ in only a few ways, which we will speak about when we study them further. Right now I want you to stand and form a line along the right side of the classroom. You will only need your wands."

All of a sudden, an excited murmur gripped the classroom. They were not expecting a practical class in their first lesson of the new subject. Very quickly, every student made their way to the right side, pushing others out of the way to get to the front of the queue.

"No need to push. You'll all get a turn." With that Cole waved his right hand and telekinetically shifted all the desks and chairs on the right to the left side of the room.

"Now I'd like Mr. Potter to come out as my demonstrator."

With that, Harry awkwardly moved to the front of the room next to Cole. He was unsure of what to expect since he did not know much about Galeic magic.

Cole could not use energy balls without the students realising his true nature, so he resorted to using his telekinesis to 'attack' the students.

"I am going to bombard you with objects from around the room. I want you to block the attack with a Shield Charm. We're only going to start with small objects. We may use bigger ones if I think you can all handle it. Now I want you to say the incantation with me. Protego."

"PROTEGO," they all repeated.

"It is not the only spell you can cast to protect yourself from flying objects. Can anyone tell me another?"

"Impedimenta," replied Harry.

"Yes. Slowing an object down with enough power will stop it in its tracks. So are we ready to give it a go."

Cole found that the class was very good at their defence spells and jinxes and had soon move on to sending larger objects, including tables and chairs in their direction. When it was time for the class to end, most of the students were not willing to leave. The Slytherins got up and left as soon as they were dismissed, but the others, especially the Gryffindors, had no intention of going anywhere.

"Can't we spend a little while longer, Sir?" they asked.

"And miss your next class? I don't think so," Cole replied, but he was pleased that they enjoyed his class.

Slowly and unwillingly, the fifth-year students made their way out the door, loudly telling each other how much they enjoyed his class.

One student remained behind, however.

"Harry, what can I do for you?" Cole asked.

"Are you here because Voldemort poses a threat to your world?"

"I don't think you need to worry about it," Cole replied, shocked that the boy jumped straight to what was on his mind, "You're safe here, and there are plenty of people out there who can protect both our worlds. You're going to be late for your next class."

"I want to know what's going on. You come to this world as an ally right when Voldemort comes back and plans to take over everything. I know he's going to try and control the Galeic world, too."

"Don't concern yourself with this, Harry. Now go to class."

Recognising defeat, Harry left for his next class.

Cole watched him leave, seeing the spirit and courage that was present in all of Harry's legends. He could now understand why the boy had such a major part to play in what was to come. Trying not to think about his discussion with Harry, Cole returned to his reading. He was still trying to perfect the Blood to Blood spell and he secretly wished that Phoebe was around to help. His studies were interrupted by a knock at his door. He stood up and answered the door, later wishing that he hadn't. As he opened the door, he was shocked to see a certain 'friend' from his past standing in the doorway.


	5. The Unexpected Visitor

A/N: Thanks everyone for reviewing. It was your reviews that conviced me to push through a headache tonight and write the ninth chapter. I'm just waiting on my editor to return my work before I post the next few chapters.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from either Harry Potter or Charmed and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Five: The Unexpected Visitor**

"What the hell are you doing here?" Cole questioned incredulously, allowing the man to enter his office.

"I was sent here," replied the young man with light brown hair and blue eyes, "It seems that news of your venture here reached the ears of the Elders. Am I allowed to ask what you're doing here?"

"I'm teaching, Leo. Working hard to rebuild what's left of my pathetic existence and I was hoping that I would never have to see any of you again. What do you mean, you were sent here?"

"The Elders want your help in dealing with the crisis in the Underworld. They believe that the dark Lord Voldemort plans to take over as the new Source. They seem to trust you. I'm not so sure."

"What help could I possibly provide?"

"I don't know. At the moment they only want you to agree to meet with them. Why are you considering plane travel, Cole? You know it's dangerous. Even for you," Leo stated, looking at the old library book that was shut on Cole's desk.

"It's light reading for my class," he replied, shuffling some paper over the Blood to Blood book. Under no circumstances did he want the Halliwells to learn of his plan to rescue his son.

"Anyway," Leo went on say, choosing not to press the matter, "It's important that you can provide information about this world, I think. The girls were attacked by wizards and demons yesterday."

Cole looked up at Leo with fear in his eyes. Regardless of everything they'd been through, he was very worried the wellbeing and Phoebe and her sisters.

"They're fine," Leo said, suspicious of Cole's reaction. However, he chose to ignore it. He was not interested in arguing with Cole and it was not why he was there. He continued with his original task.

"The Elders said that they would send someone down to you over the next few days. So I suggest you make your decision quickly. And by the way, the sisters don't believe that you're dead, but I don't want to confirm your existence to them. So let's keep it that way?"

"I would prefer it no other way."

And with that Leo left the darker man alone in his office.

**oOo**

"He's knows so much more than he's letting on," said a very frustrated Harry later that afternoon. He was recalling the discussion he'd had with Cole that morning as he sat in the Gryffindor common room with Ron and Hermione. Somehow, they had managed to snag the best armchairs next to the fire and were preparing to continue their moonstone essays for Snape.

"Well of course he does, Harry," answered Hermione, who hadn't even bothered to look up from her parchment, "But what makes you think that he's going to tell you his and Dumbledore's master plan to save both worlds from You-Know-Who. I mean, it's not like we even have a right to know."

"What do you mean, I DON'T HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW!" yelled Harry, jumping to his feet.

"Everybody is looking, mate." Ron was pulling him back down into his armchair in an effort to avert the gazes of more than twenty Gryffindors who were now very interested to see another outburst.

Harry, gathering himself a bit, replied with, "I have that right. I saw him come back. I saw Cedric killed in front of me. I had to drag his lifeless body back to Hogwarts. I have that right."

"I know, Harry. But we're still teenagers and I think that Dumbledore is trying to protect you from knowing too much before your time," Hermione said, trying hard to upset Harry, "I did see him reading a book on plane travel yesterday, though."

"Plane travel?" Ron repeated with the look of confusion that was common to his face, "What's that? Like time travel?"

"Not exactly," Hermione answered, "There are worlds, planes, that exist parallel to our own. They run on their own time and space. I can't understand how reading up on travelling between planes relates to the Order."

"Maybe Voldemort is trying to control other worlds, not just our own." Harry had the look of genius on his face.

But Hermione disagreed with him. "No, it's too hard to travel to a specific plane and I think that's why Professor Turner was reading up on that subject. The book was called _Safe Travel between Parallel Planes_. Maybe it's not related to the Order. Maybe it's information he plans to pass on to people he knows in his own world. And maybe it's not our business." She was starting to regret ever bringing it up.

"Well I want to know what he's up to," Harry said with finality.

"Then you're on your own. I have too much work to do," replied Hermione.

"Whatever." And with that Harry got up and went up to his dorm, taking his essay and books with him.

**oOo**

Cole headed up told the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office the password ('Fizzing Whizzbee') and headed up to see his mentor.

"May I ask why you sent the whitelighter to my office? Couldn't you get rid of him?"

"Cole, you can't just abandon your world. It is not what I asked you to do when I came to see you."

"Well they abandoned me," Cole said as he took a seat at the Headmaster's desk, "Over and over. They never trusted me. So what do they want with me now?"

"They are concerned about the Voldemort situation. We all are. What do you think will happen when Lord Voldemort claims the Underworld and goes after the Charmed Ones. They may not survive. Is that what you want?"

Cole hesitated. Deep down, he could not lie to himself. He loved Phoebe more than anything else and he did care for her sisters, in spite of everything.

"Of course not," he admitted, "I don't see how I could help, though."

"Cole, you have considerable influence now in both worlds. You are a powerful force against Voldemort, regardless of your low expectations of yourself."

"Fine," Cole replied simply, eager to change the subject. He did not like The Elders and Dumbledore using Phoebe to manipulate his thoughts. "I think I have found a way to bring my son back. I'm reading up on plane travel. I can shimmer there, like I did when I moved through planes two years ago. I can combine the blood to blood spell with another spell I found on plane travel, so I should be able to locate my son's exact position."

"Cole-..." Dumbledore began, before Cole interrupted him.

"I know what you're going to say. But I can make this work, and safely. The only issue is that I will need a powerful force of good magic to say the spell. I guess that means the Charmed Ones, but I didn't really want them to know what I was doing. So maybe I can work around it. Maybe you could say the spell..."

"Cole, I don't like this. You should not focus your time and energy on something that we probably won't be able to do. You need to focus on Voldemort and teaching your classes and the Order how to defend themselves against the evil he will send after them from your world."

"Please, Professor," Cole was starting to plead with the older wizard, "This is very important to me. I have already failed him once. I will not let myself do it again. I have to find him. And I'm not asking you to help me."

Cole got up and walked towards the exit.

"Wait," Dumbledore found himself saying, "Since you are so eager to undertake this assignment, I will provide with whatever help I can give. I don't want you to follow such a dangerous path alone."

"Thank-you," Cole replied, grateful for the man's understanding, "I must go now. I have to prepare for tomorrow's classes. But we will talk about this later."

He walked out of Dumbledore's office and headed back to his office to study the dozen books he had taken out from the library on plane travel and 'lost and found' spells.


	6. The Secret's Out

A/N: Thanks everyone for reviewing. I thought I'd take time now to answer some of the reviews.

CoTu and missingcanada: Thanks for the vote of confidence.

Joleca: Yeah, I didn't the way that episode ended either. If my pen name doesn't give it away, I love Cole. He's my favourite character. I really want to further develop his character and make him the 'good guy' we all know he truly is.

aerohead1980: Sorry, I don't want to change Harry's story and especially not his prophecy.

Pandora of Ithilien: Thanks, I actually enjoyed the idea of Cole teaching, too, which is what led me to create this fic. And I may just write a Cole vs. Umbridge scene (well another, the one in this chapter isn't very clashy). It'll probably be a very good clash, thanks for the idea. And yeah, I felt bad for Leo too.

Thanks everyone. I'm on my mir-year uni break so I'm trying to write a least 2 or 3 chapters a day if I have nothing else to do. Only thing is that my editor has been busy so I can't update immediately. Just finished Chapter 10. And for those hanging out to see a Phoebe/Cole scene- I'm about to write one.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from either Harry Potter or Charmed and I am not making profit from this story.

**Chapter Six: The Secret's Out**

The Elders summoned Cole to the Heavens to hear his answer two days later. Surrounded by clouds and magical beings of pure white, Cole felt out of place wearing his black robe.

"So Mr. Turner," began one Elder, "What say you? Our world needs to hone the strong connection that we have to the magic in the Hekabeic world. We need allies there and it appears that you have some."

"So you want me for my magical ties to that world?" asked Cole, with sheer distaste in his voice, "You'd think that as the leaders of good in this world, you would have made friends with the leaders in that world."

The Elders said nothing but looked awkwardly at one another. They had suspected that Cole would be resilient to helping them, but they did not expect that he would flat out refuse them.

Cole, noticing this, continued to speak. "I am willing to assist you. That is not the issue. The issue is that there has been a connection between the two worlds since the dawn of magic. Yet you only seem to acknowledge the need for inter-magical cooperation when you are in dire need of it. You should have spent the past few millennia building friendships with the other world, instead of calling on them when our world is in danger."

"We agree with you. You must forgive our short-sightedness," replied a female Elder, but she was quickly shot down by the Elder that spoke to Cole first.

"The issue before us today is not what occurred in the past," he stammered out, "The only real question is, will you help us help both worlds now? We must be concerned with the future of magic."

"What do you wish me to do?" Cole asked.

"Work as the mediator between the Order of the Phoenix and the Charmed Ones. It is as simple as that."

Cole immediately resented his decision to play any part in this venture. He did not want to see the sisters any time soon, fearing it would lead to yet another out-of-control downward spiral.

"I don't think I'm the best person to work with the Charmed Ones. Our history dictates that I should stay as far away from them as possible."

"Your history," the same male Elder continued, "will work in our favour. You understand how both the Order and the Charmed Ones carry out their business. You can effectively ensure that they are able to work together. And that is what we want. Now leave us. We have much to attend to and you have a class beginning in ten minutes."

Left feeling thrown out of heaven, Cole made his way down the hall immediately after his return to Hogwarts and let his fourth-year students into the classroom.

**oOo**

Cole managed to make it through the first three weeks of the term without any further glitches. That was until the Tuesday of the fourth week. He was walking through the grounds with his fifth-year students, who were learning about the Wiccan ways of accessing magic throughout history. "Magic can be found in everything, the Wiccan witches of medieval and Renaissance periods, knew this. It is magic that has, however, since been lost."

Then, all of a sudden, three lower-level demons ran from the forest, having broken through the weak exterior defences that surrounded the grounds of Hogwarts and attempted to attack Cole and his students.

Seeing them come towards him out of the corner of his eye, Cole quickly turned to defend his students, not even worrying about the repercussions of using his demonic powers to do so. In immediate succession, Cole sent three energy balls there way, hitting each of them in the chest and vanquishing them quickly.

The students were so shocked they didn't even have time to react. When they realised the threat was over, many looked at Cole accusingly.

"I thought you said energy balls were demonic powers, _Sir_?" Malfoy asked, with a smug look on his face as he saw Professors McGonagall and Umbridge come down from the castle and walk in their direction.

After Umbridge asked Malfoy what had happened, she repeated his question. McGonagall remained silent, knowing that there was nothing she could do or say to make this any better.

Cole took a breath and launched into his explanation. "I am a human, but I gained demonic powers about a year ago."

He knew that he needed to keep it as brief as possible, but this was very difficult.

"How did you get such powers?" Umbridge questioned with a dubious look on her face.

"I was born a human/demon hybrid, but not long after I joined the side of good in the Galeic world my powers were stripped and my demonic half vanquished. I was fully human until I was vanquished, rather unfortunately and sort of by mistake. In the Demonic Wasteland I had access to the powers of demons that were passing through. I stole them and used them to get out of the Wasteland and back here. That's my story. Now I'm here teaching the students everything I learnt about the Galeic world, just as you asked, Professor Umbridge. I don't think my history will matter."

Cole knew that his teaching career was over, but he'd enjoyed it and was very hopeful that Umbridge would not get rid of him.

"Hmmm," she began, "let us talk about this in my office. Professor McGonagall, will you walk these students back to the castle.

As Cole and Umbridge headed in one direction once they got to the castle, McGonagall and the students went in the other. As soon as she let the students go, she dashed away to find the headmaster.

**oOo**

"So tell me Cole, do you enjoy teaching here?"

Cole looked at her. She was being sweet and perfectly polite, but Cole couldn't shake the feeling that she was going to use that cover to annihilate him.

"Yes. I know you may not trust me, but I do know this subject, better than most in my world, and I am a good person. I have ties to the Elders, the leaders of good in the Galeic world. Surely, that must speak for itself."

"Hmmm. I see your point. What are you doing here, besides teaching?"

"Trying to achieve what we all want. Inter-magical cooperation between our two worlds. Your Ministry wants it. The Elders want it. And it appears that I am in the middle of it. You understand where I'm coming from?"

"Yes, it is the only reason your subject was approved. I did vote in favour of it, and I have no plans to go against that decision. You're going to stick around Mr. Turner. At least for a little while longer."

"Tttt-hank-you," Cole stuttered, in complete shock that Umbridge had actually agreed with him.

"Of course it has nothing to do with the utter nonsense that You-Know-Who has returned." Umbridge looked at Cole.

"No, I choose not to become involved in that debate. It's not why I'm here."

'_Nice save, Cole,'_ he thought to himself.

Umbridge smiled sweetly. "Well I'm sure you also have lessons to plan. You best be on your way."

And with that Cole got up and left her office.

**oOo**

"Can you believe he's a demon?!" shouted Fred. News of Cole's ordeal has passed through the castle like a wild fire.

"He is not," Hermione claimed, coming to her favourite Professor's rescue, "Like he said, he's human with demonic powers. And he uses those powers for good. I don't see the problem. This will only make the classes better."

"How do you figure?" Harry asked.

"Well, now we can practise defending ourselves against demons," she replied.

"Yeah, if Umbridge would allow it. And if I was Turner, I would not be looking for a way to piss off Umbridge at the moment," Ron stipulated.

"But did you see him kill those demons?" Harry brought up, "We didn't even have time to react. He was so fast."

For the rest of the night, the subject of much discussion in the Gryffindor common room was Professor Turner and his demonic powers.


	7. Reconnaissance in Hell

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from either Harry Potter or Charmed and I am not making a profit from this story.

**  
Chapter Seven: Reconnaissance in Hell**

"It makes no sense," Cole started to say, "Why would she just let me off that easily?"

"Perhaps now she believes she recruited powerful and very connected member of my staff," Dumbledore replied. The two were sitting in Cole's office after his third-year class had left. "She thinks that you owe her. And I can guarantee that she will call in your debt at some point, but let's discuss this further when that point comes. Until then, how fairs your moderations to the _blood to blood_ spell? Do you think it's worded correctly so that you may find your son's exact whereabouts?"

"I don't know and I don't want to try it until I do. If Phoebe was here she would know the right words."

Dumbledore looked at Cole expectantly, but said nothing. Cole stared down at his page and continued, hastily changing the subject.

"Anyway, I should be able to fix it and soon, I hope."

"Well if you need any help with that, I'm sure I could rustle up my old spell-writing skills."

Dumbledore smiled and left the young man alone in his office to prepare for his fourth-year class.

**  
oOo**

"So, to conclude this lesson, I want to see who has been paying attention to me," Cole said with a smile on his face. It was the last lesson on a Friday afternoon, so keeping their attention was not an easy feat. Most students were obsessed with the Quidditch game the following morning between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Tell to the truth, Cole was also hanging out to see it.

"Who can tell me how you would effectively vanquish a strong, upper-level warlock?"

"Oh I know," piped up Colin Creevey, "A potion made with his own flesh."

Cole looked at him with mixed emotions. He was glad that Creevey remembered something from his class, but crestfallen that it was the wrong something.

"No," Cole replied simply, "That's for upper-level demons, remember?"

"Oh, Sir," Ginny Weasley started to say, "Didn't you say a powerful vanquishing spell, like a Power of Three spell, would do the trick?"

"Correct," Cole chuckled with a smile on his face, "Well done, Miss Weasley. Ten points to Gryffindor. I actually have a Power of Three spell here that the Charmed Ones used about a year and a half ago to vanquish a warlock by the name of Devlin, who was capturing muses."

His class didn't even bother to ask what a muse was. They were all anxious to hear the spell.

'_Evil is a faithful foe,  
__But good does battle best,  
__We witches will,  
__With these words,  
__Waste the warlock's evil zest.'_

The students cheered.

"Well I didn't write the spell," Cole began, blushing a little, "I wasn't even present when it was written."

"Who wrote it, Sir?" Ginny asked.

At that moment Cole's attention was drawn away to a woman waving at him from his classroom door. He looked at the clock.

"Ok guys," Cole said quickly, "I will see you next week and since I'm so nice, no homework for the weekend." The students cheered again.

"Have fun at the game tomorrow," he told them as they shuffled passed him. The woman entered the room as they left.

"Paige," Cole said, slightly startled, "What on Earth are you doing here?"

"I thought you ought to know that Lord Voldemort is increasing demonic activity in San Francisco. Since Wyatt was born, we have been attacked on more than a dozen different occasions and not just by demons. I did not want to ask you this, but is there anything you can do?"

Cole looked at her for a moment without saying anything. Then he asked, "Who's Wyatt?"

"Wyatt Matthew Halliwell, he was born a fortnight ago."

"I thought that Piper was expecting a girl."

"So did we until he came out. I did not want to come here and ask for your help, Cole. I want nothing more than to vanquish you right here, right now. But I'm thinking about my nephew and my sisters. We can't keep the evil forces of this dark lord at bay forever. We need a better plan. We need to find out what they're planning."

"So you're sending me into hell?"

"I know Phoebe would appreciate this... When she finds out you're still alive."

"I wish everybody would stop using her to convince me to do their bidding. Wait, she doesn't know I'm alive? I assumed that by you being here meant that you three knew."

"No, Leo sent me here. Piper and Phoebe don't think you're dead, but they're not sure that you're alive. They will find out eventually, but there is too much going on at the moment that we haven't had time to tell them yet."

"Fine, I miss demon fighting anyway. I will let you know what I learn one way or another."

"Thank-you. And Cole," he looked up at her, "you didn't do that Power of Three spell justice."

He chuckled as he closed the door behind her. As soon as she had left, he quickly replaced his black teaching robe with a long black coat and walked out the door, heading towards the Forbidden Forest.

**  
oOo**

Ginny was in the Gryffindor common room, telling Ron, Harry and Hermione about the mysterious American red-haired woman that she passed on her way out of Turner's classroom.

"She must be from the Galeic world," said Ron, "Do you think she was a Charmed One? I mean, he did say that he worked with them in the past."

Harry wasn't listening. He was looking out the window, watching Cole walk towards the Forest. Making the split-second decision to follow him, Harry ran up to his dorm and stuffed his Invisibility Cloak under his robes and ran out the Gryffindor portrait door.

"Where are you going?" Ron shouted after him.

"Gotta grab some stuff for Quidditch tomorrow. Be back soon," Harry yelled back as he dashed down the staircase.

Harry was glad that Cole was only walking; otherwise he wouldn't have caught up. As Harry approached Cole, he slipped his Cloak on silently, trying hard not to alert Cole of his presence.

Cole did not hear Harry. He was caught up in thoughts of Phoebe. The lesson with the fourth-years today had brought him back to a time where they used to work together. _'When Phoebe and I were in love,'_ he thought to himself. Begrudgingly, he continued further into the forest and out of the grounds so he could shimmer out.

Harry realised, just in time, that as soon as they were about they were out of the Hogwarts boundaries, Cole was going to shimmer away.

With less than a second of time on his side, Harry ran and launched himself at Cole, just as he was shimmering to the Underworld.

**oOo**

"What the hell?" Cole questioned quietly. He did not wish to bring any unwanted guests down upon him so soon.

"HARRY!" he whispered loudly as Harry removed his Invisibility Cloak, "What the hell are you doing here?!" he continued to whisper as he grabbed Harry by the arm.

"I'm sorry, Sir, but I thought you could use my help. I'm very effective in the battle against Lord Voldemort."

Cole scowled to himself. He had no idea how he was going to explain this to Dumbledore, but he couldn't Harry back now. No doubt that someone had sensed his entrance back into the Underworld, so he did not have long to discover which demon Voldemort had put in charge of attacking the Charmed Ones.

"Put that Cloak of yours back on and don't say a word."

"What is this place?" Harry asked quietly.

"The Underworld, now be quiet, I need to find a demon."

Harry followed Cole through several empty caverns, not seeing so much as one demon. Then suddenly, three shimmered in and through Cole against a wall.

He replied by throwing an energy ball at the nearest one, but it missed. The demons had Cole pinned against the wall of the cavern. Harry saw one more demon arrive a charge Cole. Without thinking, Harry threw off his cloak and yelled, "IMPEDIMENTA!" at the charging demon.

The force of Harry's jinx threw the demon off his feet. The shock of Harry's attack took the other three demons by surprise, and Cole, using this to his advantage, threw three energy balls at them, vanquishing them instantly. Harry then shouted "CONFRINGO!" pointing his wand at the roof of the cavern, causing rocks to fall from above and trap the demon.

"What was that?" Cole asked jumping to his feet.

"Blasting Curse," Harry replied. Cole shrugged, amazed by the boy's magical abilities and knowledge.

"Who is the demon that the Dark Lord from the Hekabeic world sent after the Charmed Ones?" Cole demanded of the upper-level demon trapped under the rock. "Tell me and I will ease your passing into the Wasteland."

"Incarcerous," Harry muttered, noticing that the demon was beginning to free himself from the rock, so he bound him by ropes as well.

He then noticed something in the pocket of the demon's jacket. It was a piece of paper, which he took and handed to Cole.

Cole opened the crinkled paper to reveal a list of all the demons that had been sent after the Charmed Ones in the past two weeks.

"You're the demon after them," he spat out.

"And I won't be the last. You're precious witch _will_ die Belthazor."

Cole angrily released the demon from the rocks, and as the he ran towards Cole and Harry, Cole produced an athame, which he stabbed into the demon's chest.

Together, he and Harry watched the demon leave this plane in flames.

"Alright there, Harry?" Cole asked, regathering his composure.

Harry nodded, as he picked up his Cloak. Cole grabbed him and shimmered them back to school.

"Best not to mention, this to anyone else, Harry," Cole started to say, "I will let Professor Dumbledore know."

"Can I tell Ron and Hermione? Please, Sir? They are my best friends and I don't like to keep secrets from them."

Cole hesitated for a minute, but then realised the magnitude of what he was asking Harry to do.

"Okay," he replied, "But we cannot let Umbridge find out what we were up to, or else...?"

Cole didn't need to finish that sentence. They both know the consequences of Umbridge learning about the demon-vanquish adventure.

"Sir? I want you again. Can you teach me more than what we learn in class? I wanna be able to defend myself better against demons and warlocks."

"I will think about it, but I am much too busy at the moment, Harry. I'll let you know."

They walked their separate ways as they entered the castle.

Harry quickly ran to his common room, anxious to share the events of the evening with his best friends.


	8. Blood to Blood Return to Me

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from either Harry Potter or Charmed and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Eight: Blood to Blood Return to Me**

"Excellent, Harry," Cole called out to him after his potion successfully blew up the Boggart-Demon they were practising.

Hermione and Ron, who had come to watch, clapped ecstatically. They were enjoying Cole's classes already, but they loved the extra ones that he provided for the three after Harry had successfully badgered him for three weeks into giving them.

"Alright, great work, guys," Cole continued, "These potions are generic and have enough strength to vanquish virtually all lower-level demons. They'll probably also injure upper-level demons enough so that you may escape."

"How'd you get so good at potion-making?" Hermione asked.

"Haha, yeah I didn't," Cole laughed. "Piper, the eldest of the Charmed sisters, is amazing at brewing potions. And cooking, too."

"Can I ask you a question, Sir?"

"Well, I believe you just did, Hermione, but you may ask one more?"

"Why were you reading up on travel between parallel planes? Does it have something to do with You-Know-Who?"

Cole looked away from the group, "No, it doesn't."

"But, then why"- Cole cut Hermione off.

"It doesn't matter. It doesn't have anything to do with what's happening here."

"Oh come on, Sir," Harry started, "What's the big secret?"

But it dawned on Harry that this really wasn't any of his business. However, choosing to go against his better judgment, Harry continued to question Cole.

Cole did not answer him, hoping that Harry would get the hint. It became obvious that he did not.

"You see, Sir, from what I can gather you don't like to talk about your past. Obviously, you know the Charmed Ones. You must have history with them. That must is clear. But what I don't get is how you became a human with demonic powers. You said that you ended up in the Demonic Wasteland because you were vanquished by accident as a human. I don't believe that. You weren't accidentally vanquished, were you?" And is it even possible for a human to be vanquished? To end up in the Demonic Wasteland?"

Harry's tirade was interrupted by Hermione's attempt to shut him up.

"Harry, I'm not sure you should be asking this," she said shakily.

"Why did you even turn to the side of good in the first place?" Harry finished up with.

Cole had said nothing in the past few minutes.

"I have answers to those questions, Harry," he began slowly and quietly, controlling the outrage in his voice, "But not for you. I don't know why you think that you have earned the right to poke into my life, just because you've fought Voldemort more than a few times and you helped me vanquish a few demons. There are some things, Harry, that you just don't get to know. Not from me anyway. Now I will see the three of you in tomorrow's class. Goodbye."

And he ushered them out the door, closing it behind them.

When he was sure they weren't going to come back, Cole got out his research and his modifications to the _blood to blood_ spell.

He had finalised the spell with Dumbledore the night before. They agreed that it was worded effectively enough to be accurate. Cole had completed the potion that would make his son corporeal in this plane the week before. Everything was laid out and Cole felt that he was ready.

The only thing that was stopping him from going to his son right now is that he was unsure of what to do with him afterwards. _'Do I take him to see Phoebe? Do I raise him by myself?'_ Cole thought to himself. He'd never seen himself as a good father. He was so excited last year when he found out that Phoebe was pregnant. But he didn't think he could make it as a single father. His son's future, or lack of one, in this plane was the only thing that stopped him from retrieving his boy immediately.

**oOo  
**

"Are you ready to give this a go, Cole?" his mentor asked him later that night.

Cole shrugged nonchalantly.

"I don't know. I just... I can't do this," Cole started, lost in his thoughts, "I don't know how to be a father."

"Well it won't matter if you don't bring him back," Dumbledore replied encouragingly, "You need to find him. We'll deal with the rest later. And the way I see it, the time 

and effort you put into looking for him speaks for itself. You have already proven yourself to be a good father."

Dumbledore's faith in him empowered Cole. Deciding that now was as good a time as any to find his little boy, Cole set the candles up in a circle and lit them.

"Well, there's no time like the present," Cole said standing in the middle of the Wiccan circle.

"If anything goes wrong, Cole, shimmer back immediately. We can try again another time."

"Got it. Now will you read the spell?"

"Wait," Cole said putting his arm up, "It's a 'To call a lost witch spell.' Are you sure it'll work?"

"Yes, he's still part-witch don't forget that, so the Wiccan in him will work that magic. But it's also a blood spell, so using your blood will work Cole. We've been over this, my friend. Don't get cold feet now."

"Okay, okay, let's just try this."

'_Powers of the witches rise  
Course unseen across the skies  
Bring forth to light so we may find  
A son's soul, eternally mine'_

Cole took a pinch of rosemary, a sprig of cypress and a yarrow root and placed it in the cauldron. He then took his athame and cut his finger, dripping the blood on top of the mixture, as he read the final part of the spell.

'_Blood to blood  
I summon thee  
Blood to blood  
Be shown to me'_

And with that Cole disappeared in a swirl of white light.

"I do hope this works," Dumbledore told his ever faithful phoenix, Fawkes, "If not for the boy's sake, then for Cole's."

**oOo  
**

Cole reappeared in a world he had never seen or heard of before. It was paler than his world, but the sun shone brighter. Finding himself surrounded by hills and a running stream, he wondered if his son was really better off in the natural world. All of a sudden, he was hit by a great force from behind.

As Cole rose to his feet, he could not see the great power that did it to him. Then he heard a voice.

"Why have you come here, Cole Turner, from the natural world?" boomed a great voice from the sky.

"I... uh," Cole stuttered out.

"You interfered with The Powers That Be."

"I'm trying to find my son. Where is he?"

"We don't know. And you won't be around long enough to find out."

Cole was hit by another invisible blow, this time to his side. He was catapulted fifty metres into a tree. Rising to his feet once again, he yelled to the skies, "I'm not going anywhere until you give me back my son!"

"You don't have a choice." And with that Cole was collected in whirl of wind and sucked back into the gaping entrance between the two worlds from whence he came.

He found himself on the soft grass outside the Hogwarts, bleeding, beaten and without his son.


	9. A Budding Friendship

Hey thanks for all of the reviews.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from either Harry Potter or Charmed and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Nine: A Budding Friendship**

"Professor?!" Harry shouted out, noticing Cole on the ground. He pulled him to his feet to see that he was bleeding and seemed too dazed to walk.

"We'll go find some help," said Hermione, rushing back to the castle with Ron. The trio were coming back to the castle after visiting Hagrid earlier that morning.

"What happened, Sir? Did the demons do this to you?"

"I need to find Professor Dumbledore, Harry. I need his help."

Ironically enough, Dumbledore was looking for him, and came bursting down the steps at the entrance into the castle with Ron and Hermione.

"Cole, are you seriously injured?" he asked, obviously concerned.

"It didn't work. Why didn't it work?"

"Let's discuss this in my office. You three go back to your common room. You should not be out this early in the morning."

As Dumbledore helped an injured Cole into the castle and up to his office, Harry, Ron and Hermione vehemently discussed their ideas of what Cole had been up to.

"It was probably a demonic attack. Maybe he was in the Underworld," guessed Hermione, "It's the logical thing."

"Maybe, but I'm going to ask him, anyway," Harry said with finality.

**oOo  
**

Meanwhile, in the grand office of the headmaster, Dumbledore was questioning Cole about what happened in the other plane.

"Not much happened, it seemed quick."

"Well you were gone for hours. How did end up back here? Did you shimmer back?"

"No," Cole said as he tried to collect his thoughts. He was still dazed by the attack and he felt as though he was about to pass out. "No, there was a voice. It came from the skies, loud and booming. And it attacked me. Wouldn't let me find my son. Sent me back in a hurricane of wind. I felt like I was being sucked up a giant vortex."

"A voice," Dumbledore was thinking aloud, "Well that's very interesting. It may be some ruling power in that plane. It would make sense, since it would require a lot of strength to project one's voice as it did."

"Any idea how to overcome this power? I think that the spell worked, which means that my son was there, but I have no idea how I'll find him when I get to that plane and I can't stick around long enough to find him because that voice would throw me out of the plane faster than I could stop him."

"Perhaps, we should discuss this when you're feeling better. It's Saturday. You should spend the day resting. I will come and see you later and we'll discuss it then."

Cole retired and went back to his room, but found himself too wired to sleep. Instead he picked up one of the library books he had read on plane travel and flicked to the section about limbo. He knew there was something familiar about the plane. It was the hills and the stream that gave it away. In which case, that voice may have come from The Powers That Be. This was the reason he didn't tell Dumbledore what he thought. Going up against the great cosmic design of the universe would not end pleasantly for Cole.

Cole was now considering getting to limbo without the Blood to Blood spell. Instead, he was planning to use water as a portal to get in and out of that plane as he had seen Yun-Lo do a year and a half ago. The only issue he had now was how would he get his son out of limbo alive?

Cole continued to read for the next two or three hours. He was pouring all of his energy into bringing his son back. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Harry?"

"Hey, Sir, I was coming to see if you were okay after this morning?"

"I'm fine, I can see that you want to come in," Cole said opening the door wider to allow the young teen to enter.

"Was it a demon attack?" he asked when he entered.

"No. It was some personal business I had to attend to."

"Hmph, again with the secrets," Harry claimed, before realising he was out of line. In spite of the budding friendship the two had, Turner was still Harry's teacher, and Harry needed to see him that way, "Sorry, Sir, I just really want to know what Voldemort is up to."

"Well. I know that he hasn't launched any further demonic attempts since we vanquished that demon a month ago, which is good for us and very good for the Charmed Ones, who have enough demonic activity to deal with."

"Thank you, Sir. For telling me this."

Cole shrugged. "I have no interest in keeping that hidden from you, Harry, but believe me when I say that what happened this morning had nothing to do with Voldemort."

Harry realised that Cole was fervent about not letting him know his secret. Choosing to let him keep it, Harry got up to leave, telling his Professor that he had homework to complete.

Before he left, however, he had one thing to ask Cole. Something he'd been meaning to ask Cole for a while.

"Sir, you know that Umbridge refuses to teach us any real Defence?"

Cole sniggered. "Yeah, I know. But I was hoping the defence that we're doing in the extra classes would cover it for you."

"And it has, Sir, and I'm grateful, but I have a favour to ask. I have been running defence classes for Hogwarts students. We're calling it Dumbledore's Army and, of course, we're doing it without permission from Umbridge."

"Does Professor Dumbledore know about this?"

"Umm, no, we thought he shouldn't have to worry about it. Plus he probably wouldn't agree to us doing it. Anyway, I was hoping that you would come to the meeting tonight and give us a lesson on defence against demons."

Harry was not completely sure if sharing information about the D.A. with Turner was a good idea, but he trusted the man and also hoped that he was honest with his teacher, then his teacher would become honest with him.

"Well, honestly, I'm a fan of any rebellion."

Harry smiled. "Great well we're meeting at eight o'clock in the Room of Requirement. It's on the seventh floor opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy being clubbed by trolls."

"Great, I'll see you there Harry."

Harry was very pleased with himself as he walked out the door and up to his common room. As he entered, he went straight to Ron and Hermione.

"Well, he wouldn't tell me what he was doing this morning, but he did say that it wasn't a demonic attack and it had nothing to do with Voldemort."

Ron flinched at the name, but Harry chose to take no notice of it as he continued to speak.

"He said it was some sort of personal mission and I decided not to press the matter. Anyway, I told him about the D.A."

"What?!" Hermione and Ron said together in utter disbelief.

"It's okay. He agreed to help us. He's coming to tonight's meeting to give us a lesson on fighting demons. Like what we do in the extra classes, except he'll be teaching the whole D.A. It'll be great if we ever come up against Voldemort with demonic protection."

"Yeah, so long as he's with us. You're sure he's not setting us up?" questioned Hermione.

"Seriously? You trust him too. You've seen the good he's done. He's clearly on our side and he said that he was a fan of any rebellion."

"Alright, alright, I just want to be smart about this."

"Tonight's D.A. meeting is gonna be so good," said Ron, changing the subject somewhat.

**oOo  
**

At a quarter to eight, Cole left his room and headed to the Room of Requirement. Most of the students were there by the time he arrived.

"Wow, this room is great," he told Harry, taking in the settings of a very effective defence classroom.

Harry organised the students into their usual teams and then let Cole take over the class.

"Alright, soldiers," Cole joked, "What we're gonna do tonight is work on the more 'Muggle' defence of agility. In any demonic attack, you will need speed on your side if you hope to survive. So what I'm going to do is throw low-energy balls at you. All you have to do is dodge them to start off with."

A couple of people were too slow and were hit by the energy balls, but Hermione was able to heal them with _Episkey_. Everybody seemed to be enjoying the lesson and after a couple rounds, they all improved to a stage where Cole could not hit any of them.

Impressed by their level of improvement, Cole stepped his lesson up a bit. "Alright, well done guys. I'm gonna take it up a notch. You may now return fire in any way you choose. Don't worry about harming me. I can definitely take any spell, jinx or curse that you throw at me. Harry, would you like to begin?"

"Absolutely!" Harry replied very enthusiastically.

Cole sent two energy balls flying at Harry consecutively. Harry dodged both of them and returned fire by using his Patronus, which charged Cole to the ground and protected Harry from any further attacks.

The rest of the D.A. cheered. They were, just like Cole was, very impressed by their leader's performance. Now all of them were anxious to practice attacking a demon. After about two hours of serious defence training, everybody was very tired, but equally pleased with the night's lesson. They all bid Cole and Harry goodnight before heading back to their dormitories in groups. Cole and the trio were the last to leave.

"Thank you so much for teaching us tonight, Sir," Harry told Cole.

"You're very welcome. I had fun." He smiled and wishing them a good night as they parted and returned to their respective living quarters.

As Cole walked back to his room, he could've sworn that he heard a baby cry. Wanting to investigate the source of these tears, Cole took a left down the corridor, heading away from his room. However, the crying had stopped, leaving Cole to wonder if he was going crazy again, or if it was his son trying to reach out to him.


	10. Demon Vanquishing and Spell Casting

A/N: Hey everyone, thanks again for the reviews that seem to keep on coming. I'm busy tomorrow so I won't be updating for at least another 24 hours after this chapter, just letting you all know. It's now 6.45 pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (+ Daylight Savings). I will probably update again tomorrow at around 8.30 AEST.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from either Charmed or Harry Potter and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Ten: Demon-vanquishing and Spell-casting**

"Well we know that he's a shapeshifter, so keep searching. He has to be in there somewhere," Piper told Paige.

The Power of Three was in the attic working on the latest demonic threat.

"He's probably working for Lord Voldemort," said Phoebe, who was scrying for the demon using the blood he'd left behind when he attacked them, "Maybe I should work on a Summoning Spell, that way we could capture him and torture him into telling us what he knows."

"I'm with Phoebe on this one, Piper," claimed Paige, "We need to know what he's plotting."

"Okay, Phoebe- Summoning Spell, Paige you set up the crystal cage, I'm gonna check on the vanquishing potion." Piper took off downstairs as Leo came upstairs with Wyatt.

"So how are things with Jason?" Paige asked Phoebe.

"Great, when he's in the country, a bit of shush, please? I'm trying to think."

Phoebe was scribbling down a summoning spell.

"Okay, I found him in the Book. Shapeshifter, uses energy balls and built up a reputation as an effective witch-killer. His name is Rylux."

"Great, I'll just rework the Belthazor summoning spell" said Phoebe as she added the information to her spell, "Okay, got it."

Piper came back upstairs with three vials of the vanquishing potion. "Leo, honey, why don't you orb Wyatt up there? He doesn't need to be here for this. Crystal cage ready, Paige?"

"Yep."

"Okay, Phoebe, summon away."

'_Magic forces black and white,  
Reaching out through space and light,  
Be he far or be he near,  
Bring us the demon Rylux here.'_

In a churn of smoke, the demon, Rylux, was summoned into the crystal cage.

"Witches," he spat out, growling.

"Yeah," Paige relied as she sent the first wave of shocks threw the cage, causing the demon to yell in pain.

"Okay, here's the deal buddy," Piper began, "Who tell us everything you know about this Lord Voldemort, what he's planning, where he came from, and we will vanquish you quickly."

"Not a chance," he replied, so Paige sent another wave of shocks through the cage, but Phoebe produced a truth potion and threw it at him.

"Okay, okay. All I know is that Belthazor vanquished the demon that the Dark Lord put in charge of attacking you."

"Belthazor is dead," Phoebe exclaimed, wanting very much to believe what she was saying.

"He isn't dead. He is working in the Hekabeic world. In that school, Hogwarts, I think it is called."

"It is, and he's telling the truth. I went to see Cole recently," Paige said in a small voice, "He's teaching there."

"WHAT?!" Phoebe and Piper yelled together.

"Look, I never really found the right time to tell you."

"Fine, vanquish demon first, vanquish sister later," said Piper, "What else do you know, demon?"

"I know that he's hell bent on finding his son."

"Voldemort?" Phoebe asked.

"No," the demon replied, "Belthazor. His son is on another plane and I know that he has been searching for him. He failed in his first attempt to travel to that plane to bring him back. Belthazor is not really focusing on demon-hunting at the moment, thankfully. He's more concerned with finding his son."

Phoebe shrank into a chair. _'It could not be,'_ she thought to herself, _'my son.'_

Piper noticed this and decided to bring the chat back to the subject of Voldemort. "What's the Dark Lord's plans at the moment?"

"He is destroying the demons that are going up against his rule. Most demons have submitted to him as the leader of the Underworld now."

"Great, I think we've heard enough," said Paige, throwing the vanquishing potion at the demon. "Are you okay, Pheebs?" she asked, over the screams of Rylux as he was engulfed in flames.

"I can't believe that he's alive and, above all, looking for our son. I thought he was evil, was lost forever, I never looked for him. Cole must know something we don't. I have to go and see him."

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Phoebe?" Piper asked, "You don't need to worry about him just now. If he brings your son back, we'll deal with it then. But you shouldn't go and see him. Remember what happened when he was here six months ago? He went crazy and mummified you. And he had that bimbo impersonating you. Are you sure you want to invite him back into your life?"

"No, but I need to know what he knows about our son. And don't try and change my mind, Piper. Paige, can you orb me there?"

"Sure." And the two disappeared in a swirl of orbs, leaving Piper alone in the Manor.

"LEO!"

**oOo  
**

Meanwhile, Cole was sitting alone in his classroom, waiting for his fifth-years to come. Once again, he found himself reading and re-reading the Blood to Blood Spell that he cast to find his son. 'Why didn't it work?' he thought to himself, 'There has 

way for me to rework it.' He began scribbling out lines and adding new ones, but to no avail. This spell didn't work exactly how he'd planned and now he can't use it.

Choosing top resort back to method of using water to get to limbo, Cole decided that he could try summoning a Zen master to help. Then again, any Zen master will probably tell him that death is part of the great design and he should move on so that he's son soul can be reborn. 'Yeah, I don't believe in that stuff.'

There was a knock at the door.

"Sir, may we enter?" he heard Harry's voice say.

"Sure," Cole replied, getting to his feet and dropping a stack of papers and a couple of books on the floor. Hermione rushed to help him pick them up. He blushed slightly, since he was not used to these random acts of kindness, and thanked Hermione.

"Okay," he yelled over the chatter as his students made their way to their seats and got their things out, "Today, we're going to practice our spell writing. I gave you a list of scenarios that required a spell, be it a vanquishing spell or a summoning spell or even a conjuring spell, and asked you to choose three and write spells for them. Did everybody do this?"

There were scattered murmurs across the classroom, but 'yes' was the general vibe they all gave.

"Excellent. We're going to try them out. I hope that none of you did three vanquishing spells, since I'm not going to bring any demon or warlock back from the fiery chasms of Hell whence they came just so that you could vanquish them again. We're only going to use the other spells today."

There was an excited mumble throughout the classroom and most students were very anxious to say their spell.

**oOo  
**

"I just don't see why we couldn't orb straight into the castle, Paige. It would have been much quicker," exclaimed Phoebe as they walked up to the Entrance Hall of the castle at Hogwarts with the school's gamekeeper, who had let them into the grounds.

"We can't orb in there! It's magically protected!" cried out Paige, exasperated by the tension and anxiety surrounding Phoebe at this stage.

"So, you're goin' in ta see Professor Turner, ay?" Hagrid asked nonchalantly, "Good bloke."

Phoebe stared up at the giant man, not daring to tell him what was really on her mind.

As they approached the great Hall, Professor Dumbledore and another woman, whom Paige had not seen before, came to greet them. 'This woman has the fugliest taste in apparel, Paige thought as she shook hands with the headmaster, 'A pink cardigan and a pink hat! Seriously?'

"Welcome back to Hogwarts, Miss Matthews," said Dumbledore, politely, "And this must be your sister?"

"Yes, Sir, this is Phoebe. Phoebe Halliwell."

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Miss Halliwell," he replied, concerned about the effect that her presence may have on his Galeic Magic teacher, "And this is Professor Umbridge, our Defence against the Dark Arts teacher."

Phoebe nearly laughed. The woman looked like she couldn't defend herself against a squirrel, let alone any dark arts.

"Actually I'm the High Inquisitor at Hogwarts, too," Umbridge told the girls, rather pompously.

"Well, I guess you're here to see Cole. He's teaching at the moment but he will be done very soon," Dumbledore said, trying to get the Charmed sisters away from Umbridge.

"Actually, Phoebe's here to see Cole, I'm just her ride," replied Paige.

"Well in that case, Miss Matthews, why don't you join me in my office for a cup of tea? You can tell me more about these Elders. Miss Halliwell, Cole's classroom is the last one down that corridor," he said, pointing to his right as he ushered Paige up the stairs.

And with that the three departed, leaving Umbridge there alone.

**  
oOo  
**

"Okay guys!" Cole yelled over the top of loud chatter, "Who's next? Who's written the spell to summon a pineapple?"

Ron put his hand up, nervously.

"Alright, give it a shot, Ron!"

"Hem, hem," he cleared his throat,

'_Prickly and round-shaped  
But juicy on the inside,  
Please, pineapple come.'_

The entire class burst out with laughter as the pineapple appeared on the desk.

"Well done, Ron. A Haiku! Not so wordy, but effective nonetheless."

Suddenly, from behind him came a laugh that he knew all too well.

He turned to see her smiling face.

"Phoebe?"


	11. I'm Not Sorry

A/N: Hey, I tried to write an angsty scene here, but since it's my first fic, I wasn't really sure if I hit the nail on the head. Let me know if there's anything I can do to better my writing, please. Thanks guys.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from either Harry Potter or Charmed and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Eleven: I'm Not Sorry**

"Well, I thought it was a brilliant spell," claimed Phoebe, entering the classroom.

Ron blushed furiously, while Harry looked from his teacher to the mysterious young woman who'd just entered the room. He could have cut the tension with a knife.

Cole walked over to her slowly, aware that all his students were staring at the pair.

"We need to talk," she said quietly as he approached.

He sighed. "Wait until I dismiss my students." And he turned his back on her.

"Or what, you'll turn me into a water cooler?" she chuckled.

"I'm considering it," he replied gravely, not even turning around.

A couple of Gryffindors let out nervous laughs. Phoebe said nothing as Cole began to address his class.

"Alright guys, homework. Yes homework," he said over the groans, "We're going to start with potions next week so I want eight inches of parchment on everything you know about Galeic potions, their uses, how you make them, to be handed in on Monday. You can write more, but no less than the eight inches, so I suggest that you do some research if your knowledge is lacking."

The class murmured displeasingly some more at this. "Come on now, guys. It's only eight inches. It shouldn't take you more than an hour."

They all packed up and shuffled out of the classroom as Phoebe motioned towards Cole's desk and sat on it. Harry had no intention of going anywhere. He wanted to 

know who the witch was, but instincts told him that, once again, his teacher would be unwilling to let him know. So instead, he chose to leave with Ron and Hermione and wait outside the door.

As they sat there, Ron pulled out Extendable Ears and passed them to Hermione and Harry. Glad that Ron was carrying them around, Harry listened in to the conversation between Cole and Phoebe, smiling.

"So, Cole, I hear that you've been travelling? Through planes? Looking for someone, are you?"

Phoebe cut right to the chase. She wasn't interested in small talk.

"What are talking about?"

Cole was trying hard to get rid of her, but intuition told him that she already knew what he was up to. Well, obviously.

"Ahhh, what's the point? You already figured it out."

"Mmm, so did you find him?"

"Obviously not, Phoebe, do you see a baby around here? Plus, I'd have brought him to you if I did find him."

"Well, that demon did say that you failed in the first attempt. You didn't try again?"

"Not yet, wait... demon?" Cole moved closer to her. Now they were separated by less than a metre of empty space.

"Yeah Rylux, we vanquished him. Did you say that you would've brought him to see me? I thought you were still seething about what happened six months ago?" She got up and moved away from him.

"I am still seething, Phoebe, but he's your son, too."

"What did you do? To try and get him back, I mean? Where is he?"

"What question do you want me to answer first? What I tried to get him back or where he is? He's in another plane and I have reason to believe that that plane is Limbo. I tried to combine my knowledge about travelling through planes with a _blood to blood_ spell. I was sent back here by... something. I don't know."

Phoebe looked at him softly. After everything they'd been through, especially this year, Cole's kind and caring personality still managed to get to her. But she chose to go against her inner feelings.

"Why didn't you tell me that he had a soul? A soul that we could rescue? Didn't you think about how this might affect _me_, Cole?"

"No, Phoebe, I didn't. And you know what, I don't care. All I care about is getting my son back from that world."

"Yeah, well what about me, huh? Am I supposed to change my entire life in a single instant, without a little bit of warning?"

"Well what about my life? I was going just fine until I met you. What about everything that I gave up to be with you? You took it, bottled it up in a vial and threw it right back at me!"

"Well what do you want me to say, Cole? That I'm sorry for what happened six months ago?"

He looked up at her with an empty expression.

"Well, it wasn't me, _per se_. But I'd have done it anyway, if I had that chance. I'm not sorry," she continued.

"Is that what you what travelled nine thousand kilometres to tell me? That you're not sorry? That you wished you'd vanquished me half a year ago?" Cole found that his temper, and his voice, was rising to a threatening level. Phoebe backed off a little bit and Harry found that he didn't need the Extendables to hear what was going on. "Is that why you here? You wanna push my face down into the mud a little more? Ruin the life I've tried so hard to rebuild? Don't you give a damn about me at all?!"

Cole stared at her until she turned and walked out the door, trying hard to stop the tears from falling from her face. Hearing her coming, the trio moved out of the way of the door and ran into the empty classroom next door. They saw the crying witch come out, but they did not see Cole. They guessed he'd remained behind in the classroom.

"Whoa, what the hell was that all about?!" Ron asked rhetorically. He was still shocked by their teacher's secrets. Harry let out a nervous laugh and Hermione simply looked perplexed.

**oOo**

"Come on, Paige, we're leaving," Phoebe said after McGonagall had shown her to the headmaster's office.

Paige and Dumbledore could that she'd been crying, but both chose not to say anything. Paige got up and put her arm around her sister's shoulders. "Okay, we're going. Thank you, Professor, for the tea. We'll continue this discussion later perhaps."

"Yes, we'll talk later. Minerva will show you to the exit of the grounds."

The four magical adults walked silently down to the Entrance Hall, where Dumbledore departed from the group, walking down the same corridor he'd sent Phoebe down not too long ago.

The other three walked out the entrance to the Hogwarts castle, Paige keeping her arm around her older sister.

**oOo**

"I think I'm going to see Turner. I'll meet you guys back at the common room," Harry told his best friends.

"No, we'll come with you," replied Hermione, Ron nodding.

They began to walk out of the empty classroom and towards their Galeic Magic room, but seeing Dumbledore heading in their direction, they opted against their original plan and returned to the common room.

**oOo**

Dumbledore entered Cole's classroom quietly.

"Are you alright, my young friend?"

"Yeah, I guess. It's just... Phoebe, you know."

"Hmmm, do you to tell me what happened?"

Cole really didn't want to, but he did answer his mentor as briefly as possible.

"There's not much to tell. She found out my plans to rescue our son from a demon. I don't know how the demon found out, but that was pretty much it."

"Okay," the old wizard replied, not wanting to pressure into talking if he didn't want to. "Okay." And he left the younger man alone in the room.

**oOo**

"I can't believe he has a son! With that witch!" Ron was still saying half an hour later.

"Well at least now we know why he's been researching plane travel. His son is on another plane and he wants to rescue him. I wonder how he ended up there." Hermione pondered.

Harry hadn't said much since they came back to the common room. "I want to go and see him," he said finally, "I just feel so bad. It seems like he has nobody. Whoever the witch is, she seems to hate him. And he doesn't really know anyone in this world. I'm going to talk to him, tell him that we overheard him talking to the witch."

"Wait, what?" Ron yelled after him as Harry walked out the Gryffindor portrait door.

"We should go, too," said Hermione as she collected her backpack and followed Harry out the door with Ron right behind her.

**oOo  
**

"Sir?" Harry asked knocking on Cole's door, "It's Harry, Ron and Hermione, may we enter?"

"Ah, yeah," Cole replied as he ran to answer the door. Letting them come in he sat back down on his desk, the trio also sitting on desks in the front row.

"Umm, sir..." started Harry who, it seemed, was doing all the talking, "It's about earlier. After the class we hung around and overheard you talking to that witch."

Anger, the expected emotion the three teens expected to see on his face, was not the emotion Cole chose. He laughed.

"Of course you guys did. You've been badgering me about my past for months. I guess it seems that now you know some of it."

"Sorry, sir," Hermione apologised, finally saying something, "But if you don't mind me asking now, who was that witch?"

"Okay, well it seems that I'm going to have to tell my story. Anyone want some coffee, before I start?"

"You drink coffee, Sir?" Hermione asked, whilst the boys nodded, accepting his offer.

"Of course. American, remember. Who the hell drinks tea?"

So he poured four cups of coffee and launched into his story.

"Well as you know, I was born a demon/human hybrid. My father was human, he was a Senator. My mother was a demon, but my father didn't know this, not until she murdered him in front of me when I was three years old. It was in that act that my mother tried to destroy my human soul, turning me evil. And it worked. For more than a century I was a demonic assassin for the Source. It didn't matter who I killed, it only mattered that I did what I was told. And as such, my human half, Cole, was completely suppressed."

"What do you mean, Sir, suppressed?" asked Ron, while Hermione and Harry nudged him to shut up. Cole, however, continued his story, answering Ron's question at the same time.

"I was always two distinct halves. My demonic half, Belthazor, was always the ruling personality and my human half had very little influence over Belthazor's actions."

"Sorry to interrupt you, Sir, but it that why the demon in the Underworld called you Belthazor?" Harry questioned, this time, while Ron and Hermione bid him quiet.

"Yes, even though my demon half has been vanquished, but it's the only name they know me by. Well sort of. I'll continue. So Belthazor was the ruling personality until I came to be working for the Triad. They'd ordered me to do what no other demon had been able to yet. Kill the Charmed Ones. I decided that in order for me to do it, I would have to get close enough to one of them to betray them. My demonic half seduced Phoebe, but my human half fell in love with her."

The three students were engulfed by this story, not even daring to make a sound.

"And so the tables turned, my human half overcame Belthazor and saved the Charmed Ones' lives. And I killed the Triad. But I had to go into hiding because the Source of All Evil was searching for me. I had betrayed him. Eventually I came back into the sisters' lives. I helped them with a couple of demons, even the Source, who was after me for a long time. The eldest sister, Prue, was killed by Shax, the Source's assassin and the girls found out they had a new sister, and so reconstituted the Power of Three.

"Then a woman tried to vanquish me because Belthazor had killed her fiancée. She used the power stripping potion that Phoebe made to free my human half instead of the Belthazor vanquishing potion. So I was fully human, until the Source attacked the Charmed Ones in a sort of 'final battle.' He unleashed the Hollow, which was protected by both good and evil because it was too dangerous to let out. He used it to steal the Charmed Ones' powers, but the Seer, an evil disciple of the Source, tricked me into absorbing the Hollow to save Phoebe and her sisters, which I did. They vanquished the Source, but I'd absorbed his powers, which went into the void where my demon half used to be. I tried to fight it for a bit, but eventually the evil overcame me. I became the new Source, which nobody knew about until it was too late.

"Phoebe and I got married; she became pregnant with our son, who was also under the influence of the Source. He had a human soul, but it would never have shown through. When Phoebe did find out I was the Source, she was influenced by the baby into turning to evil as well, but in the end," Cole drew in a long breath, "her and her sisters vanquished me and our son."

"Oh my god," Hermione gasped. Harry and Ron looked at their teacher sympathetically.

"And then I was in the Demonic Wasteland, where I absorbed the leftover powers of demons that had been vanquished. I used the powers to come back, but Phoebe rejected my love, time and time again. Eventually I went mad. I tried to get the sisters to vanquish me, but my powers made me invincible. I couldn't die. I became an Avatar, which is a long explanation, but basically I had the power to change reality. I went to an alternate reality where Phoebe and I were still married, but she hated me there, too. I was Belthazor there, which meant that I could be vanquished. Just as Phoebe through the potion at me, the Avatars stopped time and I told them to take their powers back, which they did. And they reversed the reality and I went backpacking on Mt. Everest, where Professor Dumbledore came and gave me a second chance. And here I am."

"Wow, that's a long and amazing, story, Sir," Harry said finally and impressed.

"Yeah, well that's my life story. The most important parts of it at least."

"So now you're looking for the son that the Charmed Ones vanquished last year?"

"Well, they didn't exactly vanquish him, they just caused him to use so much magic that he self-destructed, but yeah, I'm looking for him."

"I've read a bit about Limbo, that's where you said you thought he was, right?" Hermione told her Professor.

"Yeah, Sir, we want to help you find your son," Ron claimed.

Cole smiled. He was so glad to have friends, after being rejected by everyone for so long.


	12. The Amazing Race

Disclaimer: I don't anything from either Harry Potter or Charmed and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Twelve: The Amazing Race**

It was a dark and chilly evening, and Dolores Jane Umbridge was travelling out of the Hogwarts grounds. Dressed warmly in an overcoat and pink, fluffy earmuffs she walked into Hogsmeade and apparated to the Ministry of Magic in London.

"Minister," Umbridge called out as she walked into the office of the political head of the British magical community, "I have news from Hogwarts."

"Hmm, about?"

"Cole Turner. You know that I expressed fears of a reprisal when I learnt of his demonic nature. His ex-wife is a Charmed One. And according to our intelligence, they have been working with Dumbledore. And there are these Elders from that world. Too many powerful people that all believe He Who Must Not Be Named has returned."

"Your point is well conceded. But what do you think that we can do about it?"

"Fire Turner. He has a lot of influence on the students. They all seem to trust him. He wields a great power to change the minds of all those students. And when he does, their parents will not be far behind."

"We can't fire Turner, as you said, he has too much influence now. The Elders want him to remain at Hogwarts and these are people that I dare not go up against. Keep your focus on Dumbledore. As soon as you get wind of anything suspicious, we can arrest him. And with his mentor gone, Turner will lose most of his authority in our magical community."

Umbridge smiled at this plan and bid the Minister good night.

**oOo  
**

"When were you going to tell me that Harry joined you several weeks ago on your demon-hunting venture to the Underworld, Cole?" asked Dumbledore slyly. He already knew the answer.

"It, uh, slipped my mind, Sir. Look okay it was the reason I decided to give him the extra classes. How long have you known? Oh, never mind I know you're not going to tell me. But he's good."

"I know that he's good, Cole. I know that you've made very good friends with him. But he's fifteen, did anyone see you down there with him?"

"No, we vanquished the four demons we came across. And then we returned to Hogwarts. We weren't gone for more than an hour, Sir. I don't think you seem to understand how good a magical fighter Harry is."

"He survived the tournament last year. There is no denying that he's an excellent wizard. But demon vanquishes, Cole? Are you sure he's ready?"

"Absolutely. Without a doubt he's ready to go on to greater things. He has courage enough to fight Voldemort time and time again, he is rebelling against Umbridge and the oppression of the Ministry and he's loyal to his friends and to you. He's like me, two years ago."

"I know. And I know that's why you've taken him under your wing," the old wizard sighed, "No more demon vanquishes."

Cole smiled knowing that he was probably going to break that rule.

"Anyway, Sir. I've found another way to get to my son. I'm sure he's in Limbo, so I've read up on how to use water as a portal, but I don't think I can do it alone. I'm calling in a favour from a Zen master I helped when I came back from the Wasteland, before I went crazy."

"And how will you find him when you get there?"

"Paige sent me another summoning spell from the Book of Shadows. I only need to swap sister with son and it should work."

"Miss Matthews gave you the spell?" Dumbledore looked at him incredulously.

"Yeah, well I think she wants me to find my son." Cole shrugged.

"Well let's hope it works this time."

**oOo  
**

"Open a window, will you Pheebs," Paige asked, "There's no air up here. How can you breathe?"

Phoebe was sitting on the floor of the attic with the Book of Shadows and various spells she'd written strewn around her.

"Okay, honey, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to find my son, what does it look like I'm doing?" Phoebe told her, not even bothering to look up from her work.

"Umm, Cole's doing that and he has access to a lot more resources than we do. Maybe you should leave it with him."

Phoebe laughed. "Ha, yeah okay, Paige."

"You don't trust Cole?"

She laughed again. "No," Phoebe replied simply. "When I find my son, I'm going to keep Cole away from him. After everything he's done to me," she hesitated, "My son does not deserve to be brought up with that baggage."

"So wait, you're looking for him and Cole's looking for him? And whoever finds him first gets to keep him?"

"Mm hmm," she answered, still not looking up.

"Okay, well the mortals have the Amazing Race. Why can't we have it, too?"

Phoebe slammed down the pad of paper she was writing on.

"Do you think this is a joke? Look, go downstairs if you're not going to help me."

"I'm not going to help you. I think you should be working with Cole," Paige replied, leaving her older sister alone in the attic.

**oOo**

"Okay, guys is everybody in position? Tan-Lo should be here any minute." Cole asked his trio of young helpers.

"Are you really expecting to get to Limbo through that pool of water?" Ron questioned confusedly.

There was a knock at the door and Hermione answered it, letting in Dumbledore who was guiding the old Zen master.

"Are you ready, my young friend?" Tan-Lo asked Cole.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Cole, have you got the spell?" Dumbledore asked before they left.

Cole showed him the piece of paper in his pocket.

"Be careful and if something doesn't feel right, shimmer back here immediately."

Cole nodded as he stepped into the water with the old master and together they disappeared.

**oOo  
**

"You're going to cast the 'To find a lost love spell'?!" Piper yelled drawing Paige up to the attic.

"What's going on up here?"

"Phoebe, is going to cast the 'To find a lost love spell' to find her baby!" Piper replied smugly.

"Look, in theory, it should work the same way it did when I used it to find Cole more than a year ago."

"Yeah, well we're not 'in theory', Phoebe, this is the real world with real flaming death," exclaimed Piper.

"Look I'm going to say it and when you want me back you have say the reversal spell, okay?"

"What happens if you find him, how are you going to bring him back?" Paige asked.

Phoebe scrunched her eyebrows. "I'm saying the damn spell now." And she lit the candles she'd set up in the circle.

'_Whither my love,  
Wherever you be,  
Through time and space,  
Take my heart near to thee.'_

And she passed out.

"Maybe we should say the reversal spell now," said Paige, with a smile that Piper returned.

**oOo**

"Phoebe?!"

Cole had, only minutes ago, come through the clouds to land on the ground in a Limbo that he didn't expect to see. The ground was a desert, the sky was red with anger and smoke filled his lungs. He also didn't expect a projection of his ex-wife to appear moments later.

"Phoebe, what are you doing here?" Cole asked grabbing her arms.

"I cast the 'To find a lost love spell' and I ended up here, with ... Never mind. Let go of me," she said as she shook him off.

"Hurry. Say the spell, Cole. We cannot stay for too long," Tan-Lo told him.

'_In this night and in this hour,  
I call upon the ancient power,  
Bring back my son,  
Bring him back to me.'_

"Where'd you get that?" Phoebe asked.

"Paige," Cole replied simply.

Phoebe sighed. She did not know that her sister was working with her ex-husband.

All of a sudden, there was a bright light, almost like a sunrise, to the east.

Cole started to run in that direction, with Phoebe and Tan-Lo following him.

There were hills and valleys to conquer before he reached the light, but Cole did not care and neither did Phoebe. Tan-Lo, however, no longer wished to be a part of this endeavour.

"You two can get back on your own when you find your son. I was not made for these types of missions," replied the old Zen master.

Cole nodded in acceptance and Tan-Lo levitated himself to the clouds and disappeared.

"We have to move quickly," Cole said and Phoebe agreed.

They made it to the source of the light to see a baby no older than eighteen months walking towards them.

They ran to him as he lifted up his arms, as if waiting to be picked up. But then, unexpectedly, both adults were hit from a blow to the side.

"Not again," Cole muttered as he scrambled to his feet to grab his son. But he couldn't move. He found himself being pulled backwards, turning around to see that he and Phoebe were being sucked down into a vortex in the sand.

"NO!" Cole screamed as he tried to get to the baby, but it was no use. The vortex pulled them down, back into the natural world.

Cole felt himself fly and then land on the soft grass outside the Hogwarts castle, Phoebe landing on top of him.

"Dammit," he thought aloud, "So close."


	13. Third Time Lucky?

A/N: Unfortunately guys, this may be the last time that I can update until next Thursday night. I'm going to be away, but I will take my computer and if I find a place with Wi-Fi then I'll update. I might write a couple of chapters while I'm away, so if I don't update in the next week, you'll probably get a couple of chapters all at once.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from either Harry Potter or Charmed and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Thirteen: Third Time Lucky?**

"Should we say the spell now?" Paige asked her older sister, exasperated.

"Wait, she doesn't look like she's in danger now."

"She was screaming a moment ago."

"Just wait a couple more minutes. If she starts to scream again then we'll say the spell, I promise."

**oOo**

"Well this is brings back memories," Cole said as Phoebe rolled off of him. "We need to get you back to the Manor so that your sisters can say the reversal spell. Unless you wanna remain a projection forever."

"Fine, whatever," Phoebe replied, more interested than getting far away from Cole as quickly as possible.

"Are you guys alright?" Harry shouted as he came running down the stairs with Ron and Hermione.

"We're fine Harry, but it didn't work. I'll explain later. Right now I need to take Phoebe to the Manor. Will you guys let Dumbledore know?"

"Okay," replied Hermione who went back up the stairs with Ron.

Harry, however, remained with Cole and Phoebe. "Can I come with you to the Manor? I've never even been to America before."

"Yeah, okay, but we aren't staying long."

The three walked silently out of the grounds so that Cole could shimmer.

**oOo  
**

"Wow," was the first thing Harry said when he arrived at the Manor.

"Phoebe, oh my god are you ok?" Piper yelled as she came bounding down the stairs.

"Fine, just say the reversal spell."

Paige pulled the piece of paper out of her pocket and, together with Piper, quickly read the reversal spell.

'_Return thy love,  
Wherever she be,  
Through time and space,  
Bring her back to me.'_

Phoebe woke up with a start as her projection faded away.

"Okay, so what happened?" Paige asked, before Harry interrupted her.

"Wow, is that the Book of Shadows?" he asked excitedly.

"Who are you?" Phoebe questioned.

"Oh I'm Harry Potter. I'm in Professor Turner's fifth-year class. This place is so cool. All the Wiccan rituals that must take place here. Do you summon the dead?"

Cole looked at the girls, realising he and his young friend were not welcome here.

"We're just gonna go."

"I think that's a good idea," Phoebe replied coldly.

Harry looked at her, confused as to why she still felt such resentment towards his favourite teacher, but then Cole grabbed him and shimmered out.

**oOo  
**

Later that evening, Cole found himself, once again, sitting in the Headmaster's office.

"There has to be a way to get around this being in Limbo," he asked his mentor, "It isn't fair. We were so close that I could almost touch him. My little boy. There must something that we can do."

"There is," came an invisible voice from the back of the room.

"Odin?" Cole asked recognising the voice.

"Yes," the Elder replied as he lowered his invisibility. "You're fortunate my young friend. Normally there would be no way for you to resurrect someone from Limbo. It just doesn't work like that."

"What do you mean, normally?"

"Well, Cole, I mean without divine Elder intervention. The Elders can sway the Great Being into letting your son go free."

"Why didn't you mention this earlier?" Cole questioned, feeling the anger rise in his voice.

"We didn't have a need for your valuable services before, Cole. Now we do. It's seems that Minister Fudge is very persistent about denying the return of Lord Voldemort. The good magical beings in this world are left as sitting ducks. We need you to change his mind, before all is lost. And in return, we will bring back your son."

"How do you expect me to change the Minister's mind about Voldemort's return? Don't you think that if it could be done, I'd have done it already?"

"Be patient, Cole. Remember that a government's strength comes from its people. If you install doubts in their minds, it will start a chain reaction and go right up to Fudge. Now I will see you tomorrow, noon, and together we will collect your son."

And with that he orbed out.

"How is that he can orb in and out when I can't shimmer and Paige can't orb?"

"It must be because he's an Elder. I don't know, Cole. But look on the bright side, you get your son back tomorrow, and the Elders gave you the means to take Fudge out with. I'd say that all-in-all, today was successful."

"Yeah, I guess. I'm going to bed. Goodnight, Professor."

"Goodnight, Cole."

**oOo  
**

However, Cole did not have a good night. He tossed and turned and found it impossible to sleep. Giving up on sleeping, Cole chose to lay awake and stare at the ceiling, thinking about what to do with his son when he got him back tomorrow.

'_I can't raise him,'_ his inner thoughts told, _'A single father is the one thing I don't think I can be.'_

It was the same thought he had all night.

**oOo  
**

Cole had woken up early that Sunday morning. He went down to eat some breakfast in the Great Hall where he saw Harry, Ron and Hermione. They waved to him, so he went and sat on the Gryffindor table with them. It was only six o'clock and most students were still in bed, so the Hall was virtually empty.

"Hey, Sir," Harry said, "How do you feel after yesterday?"

Cole, after taking a sip of his pumpkin juice, launched into the story involving Odin the Elder.

"The Elders only want to help you because you can help them. That's terrible," Hermione cried, slamming down her fork and knife.

"That's the Elders," Cole explained, in a low voice, "I wonder why Leo chose to join them."

"Huh?" the trio replied together.

"What? Oh nothing, Leo was my brother-in-law and Piper's husband."

"Piper is the oldest, right?" Harry asked.

"Yeah."

"So are you excited, Sir? You're getting your son back today!" Hermione exclaimed.

Cole just smiled, but Ron asked what he was going to do once he got his son back.

"Take him to Phoebe," he replied.

"That's nice. He should get to meet his mother," Harry told him.

"Not just meet her," Cole replied, "I'm going to give our son to her to raise."

Harry dropped his cup, Hermione dropped her cutlery, again, and Ron dropped his jaw.

"What?!" they all cried simultaneously.

"But you've gone through so much to get him back and you're going to lose him again," Ron claimed.

"No I'm not going to lose him. I only wanted to rescue him so that he might have a better life. And he will have a better life with Phoebe. She'd make a better mother than I would a father. And he'll have Wyatt to play with- a cousin his own age. She can take better care of him than I ever could. And I only want what's best for him."

"You're what's best for him," Harry told him in a proud voice.

"No I'm not, Harry, but Phoebe is," Cole replied with finality. "If you want to see him before I take him to San Francisco, you can come to my classroom at noon today." And he left them at the table and walked out of the Great Hall.

**oOo  
**

"Why are you awake so early, missy?" Piper asked her little sister.

"Dreams..." replied Phoebe, her hands enclosing a mug of strong expresso coffee.

"About?" Piper said in a highly suspicious voice.

"Just a feeling. Happiness, wholeness, completeness, you know?" answered the younger witch, shaking her messy head of hair a little.

"No," replied her sister, simply and truthfully, "You had dreams about that?"

"I don't know I just feel like... something is about to happen maybe. Or maybe it's just my empath power talking."

She started to walk out of the kitchen.

"I'm gonna get dressed and go into work early. I plan to be home by about eleven. I'll tell Elise that I'm gonna work from home."

She left the room and headed upstairs.


	14. Praise and Lies

A/N: Hey everyone. Finally back from Canberra and it was freezing. Anyway, I only got back about 10 minutes ago and my first thoughts went to all my loyal readers who want an update. So here goes Chapter 14.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from either Harry Potter or Charmed and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Fourteen: Praise and Lies**

"What did the Being demand in return?" a short, blonde Elder asked Odin, the morning that they were to retrieve Cole's son.

"A life for a life," he replied shortly, as if it were obvious, "You know the rules Declan."

"Am I allowed to ask what life you sacrificed?" Declan asked quickly and politely, fearing that he would be shot down.

Odin looked at the younger Elder shrewdly and then answered his question. "I'm going to offer up Turner's immortality. I'm sure the Great Being will find it a worthy exchange. I have not yet told Turner, but he is so desperate to get his son back that he wouldn't care. Besides, he needs to learn that having everything you want will come at a hefty price."

Declan was troubled by this, but afraid to reply. Plucking up courage from deep down in his heart, he offered to go to Cole and share the whole plan with him. But he was immediately shot down by Odin.

"NO! I cannot risk Turner not agreeing to give up his invincible powers. He is too powerful, too dangerous and we can't risk him turning on us with that much power. He could destroy us. I want to make him vulnerable, so that, if he becomes a problem, we can vanquish him."

Odin could tell that the younger Elder did not like this at all. _'He has much to learn about politics,'_ he thought to himself as he turned to find the other two Elders that were accompanying him on the venture.

**oOo**

"Are you ready, Cole?" Odin asked. He had come down with two other Elders.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

He held hands with Odin and a female Elder with short red hair, whose name he didn't know. They orbed out of the classroom in a swirl or bright lights.

"How is it that they can orb out of here, but Professor Turner can't shimmer, Sir?" Hermione asked the headmaster.

"Magic of the Elders is very different, Miss Granger. And more powerful."

"Do you think he'll really give his son back to the witch?"

Nobody answered Harry's question.

**oOo**

The three Elders arrived with Cole in a place that was much different to the last time he visited Limbo. The hills and valleys were covered in vibrant, green grass instead of course sand, and water was present in the creek, instead of in the skies.

"We have come for the soul of the child of Phoebe Halliwell and Cole Turner," Odin shouted to the heavens.

Without any delay, the white light that Cole saw the last time he was there reappeared.

Cole was going to run to it, but decided against it, since he was in the presence of three very powerful and serious Elders.

They walked casually towards the light and as they approached its end, Cole once again saw his son, wearing only a diaper.

He held his arms out again, but this time Cole could pick him up. He ran to him and held him in his arms, kissing his forehead softly. He walked back to the Elders, not letting his son go, and thanked them for returning him.

The Elders looked to the invisible Great Being in the sky, but said nothing. Odin then grabbed Cole by the arm and orbed him back to Hogwarts.

**oOo**

"Well that was easy," Cole said when he arrived back in his classroom.

Hermione got up from her seat and ran to Cole, smiling and rubbing the palm of her hand on the little boy's cheek. He laughed and squirmed a bit, so Cole set him down. His son replied by running around the classroom, squealing excitedly. Cole laughed and turned to speak with Odin. The other two Elders did not come back to Hogwarts with them.

"Thank you for helping me return my son. It means so much to me, I can't even begin to explain how happy I am right now."

"Remember what I said, Cole. So much of the future of magic now rests on your ability to change the mind of an entire magical world. Oh and one other thing. I did speak with the Great Being. He required a trade for your son's soul. Since the Elders have always been worried about the powers you possess, we offered up your invincibility in exchange for his soul. We thought you ought to know this in case you tried anything and accidentally were vanquished. That would be very bad for us, Cole. So anyway, good luck with your assignment." He then orbed out.

"Are they serious?!" Harry spat out.

"Well, I'm a little afraid to find out," Cole replied, but still smiling, "Don't worry, nothing can ruin this day for me. Not even the Elders."

"Are you still going to go through with what you said before?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, I am. I'm going to take him there right now," Cole replied as he picked up his son, wrapped and blanket around him and carried him out the door towards the end of the grounds.

"If I couldn't change his mind, young ones," Dumbledore began, "Then I don't think you three could've." And he left the room.

"Ah, Harry, we need to go. D.A. meeting tonight, it's already seven thirty," Hermione told the boys. And quickly they left and bolted up to the Gryffindor common room to grab the Marauder's Map.

**oOo**

Piper screamed. "Oh my god, Cole!"

He had just shimmered into the kitchen and Piper and dropped the batch of cookies she had just made. He set his son down and helped Piper to clean up the mess. As soon as his feet reached the floor, he ran into the other room. Cole just stood there and laughed.

"I'm sorry, is that...?" Piper asked.

"My son, yeah."

"Oh my god! PHOEBE!" she called out to her younger sister as Cole collected his son in his arms.

Moments later a very annoyed Phoebe came bouncing down the stairs. "Come on, Piper, I told you. No disturbances." Then she noticed Cole holding a baby.

"Oh my god, Cole, is that our son?" she asked as she reached her arms out and took the boy from Cole's arms.

"Yes, it is. The Elders helped me retrieve him this morning."

Phoebe was nearly in tears as she held her little boy for the first time. Cole smiled, knowing deep inside that she would make an excellent mother.

"Thank you for bringing him here so quick so that I could see him."

"I think that you should be the one to raise him, Phoebe. You would make a better mother than I would make a father."

He sighed. Phoebe was still smiling at her little boy, holding his hand his hers.

"Wait, what?" she then said, finally realising what Cole had just told her. "Are you sure? I can't... I don't know how to be... You're springing this on me now?! Couldn't you have told me this morning before you went to get him?"

"So what, are you saying that you won't take him?!" Cole stared at her incredulously.

"Of course I'm not saying that. But I would've have preferred even an hour of time to prepare for this."

And then, quite unexpectedly, Leo orbed in.

"Cole you need to go to London, probably the Order's Headquarters, immediately," he told the other man very quickly, not even noticing the baby, "Arthur Weasley has been attacked and it's serious. And apparently Harry witnessed the whole thing in a dream. Perhaps you should talk to him first."

"Okay, I'll leave right now," he said then turning back to Phoebe, "He's sixteen months old and his date of birth is the 23rd of August, 2002. Just let me know when you decided on a name so I draw up the legal documents you needs. Anyway, goodbye and we'll talk later."

He kissed his son's forehead and shimmered out.

"I heard the Elders talking. They returned your son," Leo said finally noticing the boy.

Phoebe was still holding him in her arms, even though he was squirming around and trying to get out of her grip.

She finally let him go and he ran up the stairs.

"Wow, he loves to run," Piper claimed.

They were all watching when, all of a sudden, he shimmered back into Phoebe's arms.

"And shimmer."

**oOo**

Cole shimmered out the front of Grimmauld Place and entered the dark abode.

"Sirius?" he called out into the darkness.

"Cole? Is that you?" Sirius replied coming into the hallway, "Come sit down in front of the fire and warm up."

Cole followed him into the well-lit living room.

"Hey, Professor, how did it go with Phoebe?" Harry asked.

"Pretty well, have you received any news on this end, yet?"

"No, but we're expecting some soon," Sirius answered him, "Remus will be here any minute." Then he nudged Cole into the kitchen.

"Professor Dumbledore has given the order for you and Remus to go looking for the snake," he told Cole as soon as they were out of earshot of the teenagers.

"If it was Nagini, then she wouldn't have hung around for long," he replied, "The only question that remains is why send the snake who only may kill our guard, over a Death Eater, who would certainly kill our guard?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Sirius replied, as they heard Lupin enter through the front door.


	15. Name Games

A/N: Hey everyone. Yes I'm updating again and I will probably update twice more today.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from either Harry Potter or Charmed and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Fifteen: Name Games**

The corridor was dark and smelt of stale air, and the only light was coming from the flaming torch hat Cole had lit. Cole was stopped in his tracks by a long, slender trail of blood.

"This way," he whispered to his comrade.

The two men followed the trail further along the diverging path until it disappeared.

"What happened? Why are you stopping?" Lupin asked the man in front of him.

"The trail's gone."

Cole looked around him for any indication that it had not disappeared, just taken a different route. He found none. He turned around and walked back to where Arthur had been found. He bent down to see, amongst the blood, a sticky residue that probably came from the snake's mouth. He collected a sample of it and placed in his large, black overcoat.

"What's that for?" Lupin asked him.

"I'm hoping that the Charmed Ones can use it to scry for the snake."

"But wherever Voldemort is, it's probably magically protected from things like scrying."

"They can still try," Cole replied, nodding at his companion.

Cole continued to look around the site for anything else that looked suspicious.

"Come on, Cole. What if we're found here by someone from the Ministry? Do you want to explain to them exactly what we are doing here?"

Cole looked up and agreed with him. "You're right. Let's get outta here."

**oOo**

"So, what are you planning to tell Jason?" Piper asked her younger sister, trying to feed Wyatt pumpkin soup in his highchair.

"Well," Phoebe replied, also making a sad attempt to feed her son in the brand new highchair they had bought two hours beforehand in a spree of baby goods, "I can't tell him about my son until I tell him about magic. What am I supposed to say? That he just appeared out of nowhere? Seriously, Piper, how am I going to explain this to him?"

"So you're, what, just not going to tell him?"

"Not right now. He's in Hong Kong anyway. Come on Pookie, eat. Yummy, yummy food that Aunty Piper made." Phoebe had tried everything from aeroplanes to monster trucks but her son refused to open his mouth.

"We need to stop calling him Pookie. Have you thought of what you're going to name him, yet?" Piper asked, a stern look on her face.

"I'm not sure if we should give him a 'P' name."

"Oh, a 'P' name? I have a 'P' name," exclaimed Paige, walking into the kitchen after a long day at her new temp job.

"So let's hear it."

"Okay. Pierce. You know Pierce Brosnan? James Bond?"

Piper and Phoebe looked at her like she'd gone mad.

"No, I'm not naming my son Pierce," Phoebe replied, controlling laughter.

"Well you come up with something then, Ask Phoebe," her younger sister replied mockingly.

"Well I thought of something French, like Pierre," she replied smugly.

"No!" her sisters replied shaking their heads. The two boys laughed and Phoebe used the opportunity to shove a spoon full of pumpkin soup until his mouth. He simply spat it back out again, changing his new white bib to a yucky orange colour.

"Yeah, Pheebs, you're not going to feed him like that. I think you should call him Paddington," Piper said, wrestling a Paddington Bear out of her son's arms so she could feed him some more.

The whole kitchen exploded with laughter.

"Absolutely not, Piper. We're not calling my son Paddington."

"Well it beats Pookie. Seriously, you need to name him something. And soon. He's nearly a year and a half, you can't keep calling him Pookie."

"Well, when I put him down to sleep I'll look on the internet for a name that I like, okay? I've decided to make his middle name Coleridge. Actually I'm giving him two middle names- Coleridge and Turner, since it was Cole that brought him back to me."

Her sisters smiled.

"I just can't believe he's back," Phoebe said, smiling as she rubbed her palm against her son's chubby red cheek.

**oOo  
**

"My inane sense of the teenage mind tells me that you are troubled, my young friend," Cole told Harry late one night, a couple of days after the attack had occurred.

"You know you sounded like Dumbledore," he replied smiling.

Cole looked at him slyly and the two laughed.

"Okay, seriously, what's on your mind, Harry? Your godfather and I are very worried about you. Is it about the vision you had last night?" his teacher asked him, as his godfather came and sat on the couch next to him.

"It's not just that," Harry answered, "It's all this talk of me being possessed by Voldemort. It is, quite frankly, freaking me out. What if I go crazy and attack someone?"

"You won't, Harry," Sirius replied, "I know you and you _are_ a good person."

"And try to remember, I was possessed by the Source of All _Freaking_ Evil, last year. So I think I win that contest, ay? I mean Voldemort has not yet overtaken the Source 

on the evilness ladder," Cole told him ecstatically. This made Harry feel a lot better, even laugh along with Sirius.

"Well, Ginny did tell me what it was like to be possessed by him, and I haven't felt any of the side-effects that she explained, so I guess maybe I'm not really being possessed."

"Great, I'm glad we sorted that out, ready for me to kick your arse again in a game of Chess?" his godfather asked, punching his arm.

Cole laughed and got the Chess board ready for a long night of 'My king will magically transport your king's booty to Timbuktu.'

**oOo**

It was very late in the evening a week after her son had arrived. She hadn't seen Cole since that fateful day. He'd been too busy with the Order to drop by and she had not yet told him his son's name. So she decided to visit the Order, writing a spell that would take her to their headquarters.

Upon her arrival at Number 12, Grimmauld Place, she took notice of how dark and dreary it looked. It certainly did not look like the abode of the Hekabeic world's foremost sources of good magic.

"Who's there?" she heard a voice say, coming towards her. She saw a wand pointed at her chest.

"Phoebe Halliwell," she replied, slightly afraid that she might be mistaken for an intruder. Or worse, a Death Eater, even though they could not get into the place.

"My apologies, Miss Halliwell," said the voice, "I was not expecting you."

She saw a middle-aged man with dark brown hair and patchy robes come into the light.

"I am Remus Lupin," he told her, "and I'm guessing that you're here to see Cole."

He showed her the way into the living room, where Cole was seated on an armchair by the fire, in a quiet discussion with another man, who looked like he'd been shrivelled up in the place for months.

"Phoebe," Cole said, looking up and startled, "Is everything okay? Is our son okay?"

She was touched to hear the worry in his voice.

"Oh, he's fine. I actually just came to talk to you. Maybe, in private."

Lupin looked at Sirius, wordlessly hinting that they should leave them alone, so the two wizards left the room.

"You haven't been to see us in a week. He's your son. I thought you might like to see him."

"I would've come, but I wanted to give you time to get to know him without my interference. And I've been so busy here, with the attack last week, searching for the snake and everything. Speaking of that snake, any luck scrying?"

"No, sorry Cole," she replied, taking a seat in the armchair opposite to his, "Piper's tried to scry a number of times and I wrote a summoning spell but neither have worked yet. Wherever the snake is, it's probably magically protected."

"Yeah, I thought as much but I still wanted to give it a go. So, how is our little boy?"

"Well he hates Piper's pumpkin soup. And he loves to run upstairs and shimmer back. I've had to tell him that he's not allowed to shimmer when we have visitors or when he's not at home. I haven't noticed any other powers yet, but I think he possesses the power of telekinesis. Why are you so worried?"

"I'm not worried."

"Oh don't lie to me. I can sense that you're worried."

Cole laughed, knowing that he could never hide his feelings from her again.

"Paige told me about your new found power of empathy."

"Mmm, don't change the subject. What's up?"

"In all honesty, I want you to be careful. Things are changing here and I'm being put into a more powerful position every day. I'm a great threat to Lord Voldemort. But if he finds out that I have a son, which I'm sure he already has, then that could place the two of you in serious danger."

"My whole life is dangerous, Cole, but thanks for being concerned. Don't worry, my sisters and I can handle it."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure that you can," he answered, placing his hand on the top of her thigh. However, realising it may have been slightly inappropriate, he removed it 

quickly. He looked at Phoebe, expecting her to be angry, but only saw hurt in her eyes. Immediately, he decided to change the subject.

"So, what have you decided to call him? So I can get him a birth record and so on. I'll assume your going to make Halliwell his surname."

"Naturally and you'd better write it down. His name is Jaxon Coleridge Turner Halliwell."

--

**A/N: Not sure if I liked Jaxon, and it clashed with Jason, but my friend thought it was good so I went with it.**


	16. Dreams and Death Eaters

A/N: Hey everyone. This chapter isn't too long. I plan to be finished the story by Monday, if eveything goes according to my schedule, since I have World Youth Day next week here in Sydney. Anyway, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from either Harry Potter or Charmed and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Sixteen: Dreams and Death Eaters**

It was very late the evening before the term started back and Cole was sitting in his office, absently flicking a quill and staring at the photo of his eighteen month old son, Jaxon. He had seen him twice over the holiday break and found it very difficult to let him go when he had Order business to attend to.

He was still feeling queasy. The trip back to Hogwarts on the Knight Bus didn't go over so well for him, but he refused to take any magical remedies to soothe his ailment. He was content sitting there, wallowing in his grief. He missed spending time with Jaxon, not just because he loved to take care of the year-and-a-half old witchy demon, but because it gave him the opportunity to spend time with his ex-wife. Reluctant as he was to admit it, he missed Phoebe as much as he missed their son. However, his pursuit of unhappiness was soon interrupted by his mentor knocking at his door.

"You came to see me earlier, Cole?" Dumbledore questioned as he entered the office and took a seat.

"You gave Harry to Snape for Occlumency lessons?!" Cole began, seemingly more outraged than he should be.

"I trust Severus."

"As do I, but he does not want to teach Harry. They already do not get along. Can you imagine what these lessons will be like for the both of them? I know, I cannot teach Occlumency to a Hekabeic wizard, else I would have proposed myself, but isn't there anyone else?"

"No. No, there isn't, Cole. But Severus will do this and you will accept it because I ask you both to."

Cole remained silent. He was not going to argue with the man that made his life at Hogwarts, in the Hekabeic world and, again, in the Galeic world possible. Dumbledore understood his intentions and stood up to leave.

"You should spend more time with him," the wizard said on his way out, jerking his head in the direction of the picture of Jaxon.

**  
oOo**

The first day passed fairly aimlessly. Harry bitched and moaned to Cole about his class with Snape in his demon vanquishing class, which was an hour beforehand. After news of the mass breakout at Azkaban reached the ears the Order, Cole was forced to spend the next week away from Hogwarts, Paige helping him out by teaching his classes.

His return was marred by bad news. Harry was still complaining about classes with Snape, however, his dreams were not getting better. Cole could not hide his concern when Harry told him of this.

"Why does it matter so much that I stop having these dreams anyway, Sir?" the young wizard questioned during one lesson, "I mean I don't enjoy having them, but you can't tell me that they haven't been useful."

Cole looked at the boy, but said nothing. _'What am I meant to tell him?'_ he thought to himself.

"You know why, Sir. I know you do."

Cole was rescued, however, by Umbridge, who walked into his classroom without knocking, and stapled Educational Decree Number Twenty-six to his door.

"Teachers are hereby banned from giving students any information that is not strictly related to the subjects they are paid to teach," Cole read aloud.

"Mmm, you were hired to teach a study of the Galeic world, not defences against it. No more vanquishing potions or spells or demon fighting or anything that comes from other subjects."

And she left. Cole was left staring at the parchment stuck to his door.

"Well, it looks like she found out about your classes with me or your classes with Snape and chose an appropriate cause of action."

"So, what now?" Harry asked, watching his teacher remove the decree from his door and set it alight.

"We continue our classes, but Umbridge does not find out about them. Do you want me to come to the next D.A. meeting?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure when we'll have it. I'll let you know," his student replied as he walked out the door.

**  
oOo**

Harry did not sleep well that night. Dreams of flying on his Firebolt, of playing Quidditch again, were shot down by a horrible nightmare. He was sitting in a throne-like chair, facing several hooded Death Eaters, including most of the ones that had broken out of Azkaban.

'_He has become a serious problem in our endeavour,'_ Harry heard himself say, _'We cannot kill him, he is too strong now. But we can destroy his reason for living. His beloved and his son, I want you to kill them.'_

'_You want us to go up against the Charmed Ones. That's suicide,'_ one Death Eater said.

Harry merely glared at the man.

'_Kill them. Now!'_ And Harry woke up with a start, panting and gasping for air.

Ron had woken up and was asking his best friend if he was okay. The other boys were still sleeping.

"I am, but Phoebe and Jaxon won't be. We need to find Turner," Harry replied, getting out his bed quickly and running down the dormitory stairs. Ron followed him, trying to pull on his dressing-gown as he ran.

They bolted to Cole's living quarters, not even bothering to hide from Filch or any of the teachers.

"Professor Turner!" they yelled, banging down his door.

"What? What's wrong?"Cole managed to get out, rushing to answer the door.

"I had another dream, Sir!" Harry replied, exasperated, "Voldemort is planning to kill Phoebe and Jaxon!"

"You two, stay here."

And without another word, Cole through on his coat and ran out the door.

**  
oOo**

He shimmered into the Manor to see Piper and Paige unconscious on the kitchen floor. It was still light in San Francisco, so he could not count on the element of surprise to attack the Death Eaters. He heard a noise upstairs and ran to investigate. As he approached the bottom of the stairs, he heard men yelling at each other incoherently. He ran up the stairs to see Phoebe restrained by two hooded Death Eaters. Jaxon was, however, safe in Wyatt's crib, his cousin's bubble around them both.

"We can't penetrate it," one Death Eater yelled at the leading one.

Cole remained outside the room, quickly trying to come up with a plan of action. He then saw his son send a fireball in the direction of the nearest Death Eater, who combusted instantly. Cole chose that moment of confusion to take action. He jumped into the room sending two energy balls at the Death Eaters restraining Phoebe. They were quick to react, however, wordlessly putting Shield Charms up. They were forced to release the witch, who ran to her son and nephew.

"Jaxon, shimmer out of here!" Cole yelled to his little boy, who immediately shimmered elsewhere with his mother and cousin.

The four Death Eaters left standing turned to face Cole. Choosing life, they apparated out of the Manor. Cole ran downstairs to find Leo healing Piper and Paige, with Phoebe holding Jaxon and Wyatt nearby. He walked swiftly to his ex-wife as she passed their son to him.

"Nice vanquish, Jaxon," he told the boy, tickling him.

"Yeah," Leo said as Jaxon giggled hysterically, "Those two came into their powers really fast."

Phoebe smiled, watching Cole sit Jaxon on the bench.

"So how did you know that we were in trouble?" Phoebe asked.

"Harry," Cole replied simply, "He had another dream. This time he saw Voldemort ordering some Death Eaters to kill you and Jaxon. I came as soon as he told me."

"Well, thank God you did," Phoebe told him, "They were about to drag me to the Underworld."

Cole smiled at her, but he was still fixated on his son.

"Anyway, I have to get back to Hogwarts and alert the Order to this development in Voldemort's plans. I know he wants to kill the Charmed Ones, but why is suddenly a priority, I wonder?"

Cole's question was left unanswered, whilst the sisters pondered the same thing.

Leo, who had taken Wyatt to his playpen, did reply.

"He sees you as a threat, Cole. You're too influential in both worlds and you wield a great authority over the Hogwarts students. But he may not be able to kill you, not yet anyway, because he doesn't know how. So he may be trying to destroy your family instead."

Phoebe looked down at the floor after hearing the word 'family.'

"You're probably right, Leo. I need to inform Dumbledore," Cole stated and then he kissed his son on the forehead and bid everyone else in the kitchen goodbye before shimmering out.


	17. Oh No, The Manticore

A/N: Hey everyone. This chapter is based very heavily on the episode 'Little Monsters' from season 6 of Charmed. In actual fact, the basic storyline of the episode doesn't change until the end. If you hvaen't seen the ep, you may find it a little difficult to follow on but I tried to accomodate for it.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from either Harry Potter or Charmed and I'm not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Seventeen: Oh No, The Manticore**

"Hey, anyone downstairs?" Cole shouted as he shimmered into the Manor. Phoebe had written to him, only just getting the hang of Owl Post, and asked to him to babysit Jaxon that night.

"Shush," he heard Piper's voice whisper angrily. He saw her appear out of the second bedroom. "I just put Wyatt down for his nap."

"Oh, sorry," he whispered back as Piper came downstairs to join him. They went into the living room to see Jaxon asleep on the lounge in front of the TV. He had been watching Peter Pan, but not having slept all day, found the perfect place.

Cole smiled as he watched his son sleep. "So why did Phoebe want me to babysit?"

"She wants you to spend time with him. Plus she's going out tonight. Anyway, you can stay here or you can take him back to Hogwarts."

"Phoebe's going out tonight?"

Piper didn't even answer him, just gave him a suspicious look. Not a moment later, Phoebe bustled down the stairs in tight black dress. Cole was lost for words, choosing to stare aimlessly and blankly.

"What?" Phoebe questioned, misjudging the suspicious look on Piper's face and the blank stare radiating from Cole, "It's not every day that your boyfriend buys back his grandfather's winery. We're going out to celebrate." And she left without saying another word.

"Her boyfriend?" Cole asked Piper, trying to sound innocent.

"Seriously? You didn't think that she would be dating someone? Are we talking about the same Phoebe Halliwell here?"

Cole shrugged as Piper continued to speak.

"Jason Dean. He's a very handsome dot com millionaire. Unfortunately, knows nothing about magic, or Jaxon for that matter."

"He doesn't know that she has a toddler? How long have they been dating?"

"A while, it's pretty serious. But Phoebe has been avoiding the magic issue, and until she tells him that she's a witch, she can't tell him about Jaxon. Which I think is stupid, but you know, I'm not dating the clueless mortal."

Cole chose not to discuss the topic any further. "Do you need anything around here? I might take Jaxon back to Hogwarts. Harry, Ron and Hermione are dying to see him again."

"No, I'm fine. And you're in luck. It looks like he just woke up," Piper replied, watching the little boy walk towards the source of all the noise, rubbing his eyes.

"Okay. Come on buddy, Cole said as he scooped up his son, "Let's go to Hogwarts." And he shimmered out.

**oOo**

Cole was excited to be spending so much time with his son. They watched Aladdin and ate popcorn and later in the evening, Harry, Ron and Hermione joined them.

Cole knew that Phoebe would not be happy with him when he returned her son the following morning very tired, having stayed up virtually all night having fun showing off his powers to the trio.

The next morning, Cole shimmered back to the Manor with Jaxon, Harry, Ron and Hermione. Although Dumbledore had said no more Underworld outings, travelling to the Charmed household hardly seemed dangerous. _'Okay, we're likely to be under attack, but he made that demonic vanquishes rule so I would break it,'_ Cole thought to himself. It was a Saturday morning and most people were actually still sleeping.

Upon their arrival, they noticed that nobody was downstairs, so Cole, out of habit, headed straight upstairs to the attic. Piper was upstairs looking in the book, but the other two Charmed sisters were nowhere to be found.

"Hey Piper," Cole began, "Demon?"

"Yep, he's in the playpen," she replied jerking her head to where Wyatt was standing.

Cole turned to see that there was another baby boy, no older than a year, lying in the playpen.

"Umm, please explain?" he asked confusedly and then spoke to the young wizards and witch standing aimlessly by the door, "Oh you guys can just sit somewhere. We might be here for a bit. You don't mind, do you Piper?"

"Huh, oh no, the more the merrier and perhaps we can use you later. And to answer your question, Cole, we went to vanquish a demon last night. It was eaten before we got a chance by another demon, which we vanquished anyway, but it left us the baby."

"Seriously?" he questioned, walking over to the playpen. He put Jaxon down next to Wyatt and picked up the other baby. "He looks so human, it's possible that he's half human."

"Yeah, well you don't wanna know what he's other half would look like, if it's anything like his mother. Oh and he does this weird thing with his tongue."

At that moment, the child's lizard-like tongue shot out of its mouth and shot back in, just as fast.

"That," Piper said finally.

"He's a Manticore," Cole explained, while the trio looked horrified at the mouth of the baby, "They travel in packs and they're very strong. If they're looking for this baby, which they probably are, then you should be very weary. It's probably a good idea to stock up on a strong vanquishing potion. Hermione will help you. Ron and Harry, keep an eye on the three boys for us."

Hermione looked excited to brewing potions with the great Piper Halliwell, meanwhile the boys looked crestfallen that they were stuck on diaper duty whilst the rest of the magical beings in the house were demon hunting.

About half an hour after their arrival, Phoebe returned home from visiting Jason.

"Whoo, I have had it with men," Phoebe began, angrily throwing her purse on the nearest chair, "They are incorrigible."

"Well, let me tell you, little boys are not much better," Piper replied.

"Well, I can understand running if he didn't love me back. You know flight or fight, it's the nature of the beast," Phoebe continued, while Cole sat in the back reading the Book of Shadows, trying hard not to be noticed by Phoebe.

"Speaking of that..." Piper tried to say before Phoebe cut her off to continue her rant.

"But he does love me. I know. I felt it, you know? So, what's the big deal? Why's he running?"

Piper turned around and stared at Cole expectantly.

Giving up on pretending to be invisible, Cole replied, "I'm pretty sure that question's to you," jerking his head back at Piper. Phoebe, noticing Cole for the first time, sighed and chuckled at this comment.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, you probably won't be alive much longer to worry about it," Piper told Phoebe, while Cole laughed in the background.

"Yes, that makes me feel _so_ much better."

"I'm just saying, if this doesn't work, then we won't be able to vanquish the Manticores when they come to pick up their little one," Piper replied, as the two Wiccan witches watched Hermione stir the vanquishing potion profusely.

"Oh you figured out what they are?" Phoebe questioned.

"Yeah, and it's not good believe me. Just ask Cole," Piper replied.

"So maybe Chris is right?" Phoebe thought aloud.

"Absolutely not," Cole shouted jumping to his feet, dropping the Book, "He's not even a year old and it's quite possible that he's half-human. You know, with a human soul."

"Yeah, and look at where that got you, Cole," Phoebe replied, with equal anger in her voice. It seemed that all the rage was had built up against Jason she was now taking out on Cole.

"Well, I'm fighting on the side of good, now. Plus, we won't let this child be raised in the Underworld. He can turn out good."

"Well , we still gotta keep the boys away from him,' Phoebe said walking over to the playpen and picking up Wyatt and Jaxon.

"Phoebe, wait..." Piper tried to warn her sister but was interrupted.

"You stay away from the boys, okay?" Phoebe told the baby condescendingly, "And don't shimmer after them either, or I'll bind your powers."

The baby's cries turned into a high pitched wail.

"Phoebe," Piper shouted out, "Hurry! Hurry, put them back down." Harry and Ron put their hands over their ears to block out the scream.

"Almost sounds like a Hippogriff," Ron blurted out.

"What? Okay," Phoebe said as she lowered her son and nephew back into the playpen, "Why?"

And a moment later a beast-like demon shimmered into the attic behind her.

"That's why," Piper replied as the beast sent Phoebe flying at her older sister.

Cole jumped to his feet to defend them as Wyatt set up his protective bubble around himself and the other two boys. The beast tried to penetrate it, but could not. Cole sent an energy ball in his direction, but it did not affect him.

Piper got to her feet and tried to blow the demon up. "Hey," she yelled angrily, as she waved her hands at him, "You get away from our kids."

The demon gave up and shimmered out. Cole sighed, but too soon, because the beast had shimmered back into the attic behind Piper, grabbed her, and shimmered out with her. Cole tried to stop him by launching his body at the demon, but missed and was sent flying into the attic window, shattering it once again.

Phoebe got up, a shocked look burnt into her face, and then turned around to help up Cole.

"Are you okay, Cole?" she asked kindly, pulling him to his feet.

"Yeah, but we need to find Piper now," he replied, "And we still don't know what we're going to do with this baby. I'm going to find where these Manticores lurk in the Underworld. Okay, Harry, help Phoebe scry. Hermione and Ron, bottle those potions. We're going to need a few."

He gave them one last look before he shimmered to the Underworld.

**oOo**

"What the hell happened?" Cole shouted as he arrived back to the Manor, which was in a state of disarray, "Everyone in the Underworld has been alerted to this baby's 

presence in the Charmed household. Now Voldemort is sending demons with the Manticores. I hope you guys are stocked up on vanquishing potions."

"Got some," Paige replied, calmly showing Cole the vials, "And relax, Cole. We have a plan. The Beast took the baby and we didn't get Piper back. But we managed to injure some Manticores and get some blood to make vanquishing potions, which we're gonna use as leverage against the Manticores and convince them to help us find Piper and the baby."

"You're going to give the baby back to the Manticores," Cole questioned, not entirely happy with the plan.

"Well, I don't like it either, Cole, but it's the only way we'll get Piper back," Phoebe told him as she walked into the room.

Cole silently agreed with them. Cole shimmered them down to the Underworld, to the lair of the Manticores, where they threatened the pack into joining forces with them to attack the Beast. They went to the house where Piper was being held, grabbed her, and Cole shimmered the three witches back to the Manor.

"No wait..." Piper tried to say before they left.

"What the hell are you doing?!" she shouted when they arrived back at the Manor.

"Saving your life," replied Paige, exasperated.

"No, we have to go back," Piper cried, wound up, so Paige orbed the three of them back, Cole shimmering behind them.

They arrived back at the house to find the Beast seriously injured, moaning and rolling around on the ground.

Piper walked over to him and then looked at the bed to see that the boy was gone.

"What is it, Piper?" Cole questioned, "Who is this?"

"I am a human," the Beast choked out, "And I need to rescue my son."

Cole, immediately identifying with the man, rushed to his side. The Beast magically turned back into his human self and passed out. Cole shimmered him back to the Manor, while Paige orbed with Piper and Phoebe.

After Leo healed the man, they moved on to discussing their plan to retrieve his son.

"It sounds too dangerous," Chris finally said, after thinking it for ten long and arduous minutes.

"I'm all for dangerous," Cole replied forcefully, not even giving the Charmed One's the chance to answer. He then turned to the man and said, "I'll do whatever I can to help you find your son. I promise you that. What's your name by the way? Unless you'd prefer that we'd call you The Beast."

The man laughed and answered Cole's question, "It's Derek."

"Nice to meet you, Derek," Piper said, "What's your son's name?"

"He doesn't have one yet," Derek replied, "I've been so focused with finding him that I didn't think about things like that."

Cole smiled as he looked at the man. He could understand completely where Derek was coming from and that was why it was so important for him to help Derek find his son.

"Okay, so we'll need vanquishing potions, and we'll need a way to separate the baby from the Manticores, because the potions will vanquish him, too," Phoebe explained as she gave vials to Piper, Paige and Cole.

Harry held out his arm, expecting to be given a vial, but Cole shook his head. "No, Harry, I promised the headmaster that I wouldn't take you down there again. Plus, it's probably too dangerous. If Voldemort's down there, he could easily sense you."

Ron flinched at the name, though he tried hard not to.

"I'm coming," Derek said, jumping of the lounge.

"You're human now," Piper told him, "You can't possibly fight them. We will get your son back."

"No, I'm coming," Derek replied with finality, "He's my son and if anything goes wrong... If you can't get him away from the pack, then maybe I can. I have to go."

Cole, understanding the man's position, handed him a vial and his hand. The two men shimmered down to the Underworld, Piper, Phoebe and Paige orbing down after them.

Leo looked slightly perplexed by news that Voldemort might be snooping around in the Underworld and decided to check it out. He orbed after the girls, leaving Chris, Harry, Ron and Hermione alone in the Manor with Jaxon and Wyatt, who were sleeping upstairs.

**oOo**

Cole, Derek and the Charmed Ones were hiding behind a large boulder, skilfully preparing their attack. Piper managed to convince the baby to shimmer away and the five of them threw vanquishing potions at the Manticores, destroying them quickly. When they had all been destroyed, the baby reappeared.

However, there was one Manticore left. It ran to grab the baby, and Derek, who noticed this first, also ran out to fetch the boy. Cole knew that he could not throw a vanquishing potion in case it hit the baby, so he threw an energy ball to distract the Manticore as he dove at its chest. The Manticore was too quick for Cole and dodged him, choosing to pull the roof of the lair down upon all of them. The last thing Cole saw was Derek protecting his son with his body as the ceiling crumbled down on them.


	18. One Father to Another

A/N: This is the second part of the storyline that was started in Chapter 17.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from either Harry Potter or Charmed and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Eighteen: One Father to Another**

"Derek?!" Cole called out into the darkness as he pushed large rocks and boulders out of his path, "Derek?! Where are you?"

He heard a moan about 15 metres to his right and ran in that direction. Derek was severely injured trying to protect his son from the landslide.

"LEO!" Cole screamed out, hoping the Elder would hear his call. He was soon joined by the Charmed Ones picked up the baby, who was screaming, but otherwise uninjured.

"LEO!" Piper also screamed as Paige and Cole tried to compress some of Derek's wounds, but it was no use. The blood continued to pour out and they could not stop it. Piper froze him hoping it would by them more time, but Leo did not come.

Eventually, the freeze wore off and Derek continued to bleed out.

"What do we do?" Phoebe questioned exasperated.

"Maybe if we're out of the cavern, Leo will hear us," Paige supposed, so Cole shimmered Derek back to the Manor, where the trio were waiting with Chris. Paige orbed her sisters and the baby back soon after.

"LEO!" Piper screamed, trying again, but it was too no avail.

Derek grabbed on to Cole's arm and looked pleadingly into his eyes.

"Don't give up, man. He will come. You need to stay strong for your son. He needs you." Cole was frustrated with his former brother-in-law. _'Where the hell is he?'_ his thoughts screamed.

"Don't, Cole," Derek choked up, coughing up blood, "It's over. Take care of him. Please, take care of him."

"Derek?" Cole cried out as the man fell unconscious.

A moment later, a swirl of orbs fell from the ceiling.

"Leo! Heal now, ask later," Piper said quickly pointing at Derek.

The Elder placed his hands over the bleeding mortal, but it was useless. Leo shook his head and looked away from the body.

"What? Leo!" Cole exclaimed, his temper border lining fury, "Where the hell were you?!" He got to his feet, his clothes and hands covered in blood and walked up to the Elder. "You could've saved him!" And he shoved the light-haired man.

"Cole! This isn't helping. I know that you're angry but we couldn't do anything," Piper claimed, coming between the two men. She then turned to Leo, "Where the hell were you?!"

"In Hell," he replied, "Literally, I was in the Underworld. I couldn't hear you. I'm sorry."

Through the whole scenario, Chris, Harry, Ron and Hermione remained silent, not daring to say even one word. They were shocked.

"So, what do we do with the baby now?" Chris dared to ask, finally saying something.

The others looked at each other. Nobody had an answer for his question. Leo walked over to Derek's body and orbed it out.

"I know that you can't keep him here," Cole said, speaking to the sisters, "You have Wyatt and Jaxon to worry about. I'll take him with me to Hogwarts and ask Dumbledore to find a more permanent arrangement for him."

Piper nodded in agreement, but the other two made no comment.

"We should get going, then. I should... shower," he hesitated on the last word. He had a connection to Derek, a man who would do anything to rescue his son from a terrible fate. He had a hard time believing that it had cost him his life.

Harry picked up the baby and walked over to his teacher with his best friends. They held on to Cole as he shimmered them back to Hogsmeade.

**  
oOo  
**

"Cole?" Dumbledore called out, walking into his staff member's quarters, "Are you in here?"

"Yeah," he whispered back, "The baby's asleep."

Together they walked to Cole's office to discuss living arrangements for the half-Manticore baby.

"He can stay here for a while. Will you take care of him?" the headmaster asked.

"Yeah, but we need to find a family for him. He's half-demon, a baby that the Charmed Ones were considering vanquishing, so not many people will want him. I feel bad for him. He hasn't even done anything yet to deserve that kind of treatment."

"Well," the wizard replied, "People find it hard to move away from their traditional ideals and I think he is better off with you for the time being."

"Just for the time being," Cole repeated, clarifying the point. He did not think he could be a good father to his own son, let alone anyone else's, but he felt a responsibility to the child. It had, after all, been Derek's dying wish to have him taken care of.

Dumbledore smiled and got up to leave. "You should not take Harry, Ron and Hermione from the school premises anymore. I know they were a great help in the Manticore debacle, but Umbridge was suspicious of their disappearance."

Cole nodded, understanding Dumbledore's reasoning, and watched his mentor leave his office.

**  
oOo  
**

Paige found herself being dragged to Hogwarts to the following afternoon. She was trudging along a couple of metres behind her older sister, Phoebe, with her nephew, Jaxon. The trio were going up to see Cole and the baby.

"Hey Cole," Phoebe said brightly as she walked into his office, where he was marking essays from his third-year class.

"Phoebe," he replied, equally as enthusiastic, "Hey Jaxon," he continued as he grabbed the boy from Phoebe's arms.

"Ahem," Paige coughed up, feeling left out.

"Sorry, hi Paige," Cole laughed, giving his son Bertie Bott's beans from his draw.

"So, where's the baby?" Phoebe asked eager to see Cole as a father in action.

"Harry, Ron and Hermione are watching him in the Gryffindor common room," Cole replied, moving away from his marking and picking his son up before he ran out the door, "They said they'd watched him while I got through some marking."

Together, the four of them headed up to the Gryffindor common room and Cole let them in.

"Hi Phoebe, Paige," said Hermione brightly, seeing them come towards the group of Gryffindors huddled around the baby.

"How has he been?" Cole asked the trio.

"Oh, he's been great and everyone here adores him," Hermione replied cheerfully.

Cole smiled as Phoebe walked over to the group and picked the baby up. He gurgled and grabbed Phoebe's cheek. Cole smiled and let Jaxon down to run around the common room.

"So, what are you going to do about him, Cole?" Paige asked as Phoebe made her way back to them.

"Dumbledore and I aren't sure yet. I'm gonna take care of him until we find something more permanent for him."

"Well, I think you're doing a great job so far, Cole," Phoebe told him, joining them in the corner of the common room, "You know, for someone who didn't think they could be a good father."

Cole looked at her gratefully. It meant a lot to him to be told that he was doing a great job as a father by the mother of his son. He only wished he could be a great father to his own son.

"So, Harry," Phoebe began, walking over to the Gryffindors, "How's potions going?"

Taking the hint, Harry followed Phoebe outside the Gryffindor portrait so that they could talk about Occlumency.

"Now I want the honest truth, Harry," she continued, "Cole tells me that you've been having a hard time closing your mind. I had the same problem when I first became an empath. It's a very overbearing power, but I found that emptying my own self of my emotions helped me to cope with the oncoming emotions of others."

"That's what Snape keeps telling me to do," Harry cried, frustrated by his potions teacher, "I can't empty myself of emotions and he won't tell me how to do it."

"Well, you know what I do when I'm trying to remove my emotions; I try and look at the situation from an objective third party's view. You have to disassociate yourself from the scenario. Basically, when you're in these lessons or practicing Occlumency, you need to become wholly objective, otherwise you're vulnerable. Try doing it in your day-to-day activities. If you're arguing with someone, try and remove yourself from the argument and look at both sides. Objectivity, Harry, is key to closing your mind."

Harry listened intently to the lecture that Phoebe gave him, wishing the potions master had told him this when they started.

"And practice, Harry, you need to practice this skill. I know you don't want to and you're probably busy, but Dumbledore wouldn't be putting you through these lessons if it wasn't important."

Harry nodded and thanked the witch for helping him out. Together, they walked back into the common room.


	19. Cole Spreads Umbridgeitis

A/N: Hey everyone. Thanks for the reviews.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from either Harry Potter or Charmed and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Nineteen: Coles Spreads Umbridgitis**

"Come on, little one, it's bedtime," Cole said, trying to calm to the baby down, "No. No more playing. It's bedtime now."

The baby looked up and smiled at Cole, filling his heart with warmth.

Slowly, the boy drifted off to sleep, with Cole standing over the crib, watching him.

Eventually, Cole decided that his time would be better spent working on his plan to destroy Minister Fudge. He went into his office and read through the article in the Quibbler for the fifth time that day. The issue was due for release the next day and Cole needed to make sure that it was spread like a wild fire. He had to admit, Skeeter had done a very good job on the article. It was sure to convince a fair few people in the wider wizarding community, and a lot of students at Hogwarts if Cole's plan to spread around the whole school worked.

There was a knock at his door and Cole went to answer it, expecting to see Harry, who said he would drop by later in the evening to discuss the article. However, the person at his door was not even male.

"Phoebe," he began, "Twice in one week, this must be some sort of record for this year. What's up? Where's Paige?"

"Oh, she didn't have to come. I wrote a spell to transport me here. I just wanted to check up on you and the baby. See if there was anything you two needed. Maybe set up a play date with Jaxon and Wyatt."

Cole grinned at the idea of a play date. It really made him feel like a father. He ushered Phoebe to his quarters and made them coffee. They sat down around his small dining table, which he never used because he always ate in the Great Hall.

"So, how is he?" Phoebe asked excitedly. She wanted to know all about Cole's fatherhood experience, wishing that he could be there more often for their son. She was shocked by her own feelings, considering last year she didn't want him anywhere near Jaxon.

"Well, asleep at the moment. He's so hyperactive. It took me forever to settle him down to sleep tonite. And he'll wake me up early in the morning anyway."

Phoebe smiled, "So, what do you do with him during the day?"

"Well, my classroom is close to my quarters, but a couple of house-elves babysit for me while I'm teaching. How's Jaxon been? Have you taken him to meet your boyfriend? He sounds like a good guy, well, according to Piper."

"I have been avoiding telling Jason about magic."

Cole gave her a shrewd look.

"Don't look at me like that, Cole. I can't tell him that I have a son until he knows I'm a witch. How else am I meant to explain how we rescued him from Limbo?"

"You mean, how I rescued him from Limbo?" Cole replied, grinning cheekily at Phoebe.

She chuckled and continued talking, "But Jaxon's been great. He's growing so fast, thanks for the clothes you bought him last week. For some reason, he loves wearing Lonsdale, even though I have no idea how an eighteen month old toddler can pick labels."

Cole laughed, "Yeah, I went shopping in London last week. I needed Muggle clothes. I spend too much time in robes."

"Anyway, I should be going, it's getting late here and you probably have work to do. Speaking of which, Jason will wonder where my marathon pee break has taken me this time. So, will you come over to see Jaxon some time? And bring the baby. Jaxon and Wyatt love playing with him and I can sense that they miss him."

"Yeah, I'll try," Cole replied walking with Phoebe to the exit. He was so glad that they were on friendly speaking terms again.

As they walked to the door, Phoebe clumsily fell over the stroller that Cole had borrowed from Piper. Cole managed to catch her before she ungracefully fell on her behind. He pulled her up to his level and for a moment, they just looked into each other's eyes. Phoebe drew closer to him, succumbing to her feelings as well as his. Their lips nearly touched as Harry barged through Cole's door.

"Look, Sir, can we do this quickly, 'cos I have a lot of homework to do," he said walking in, then noticed what he was actually walking in on, "Oh shit, I'll just leave now."

Phoebe turned away from the kiss quickly as Cole's lips brushed her cheek, making her jump slightly.

Phoebe awkwardly walked away from Cole, red in the face and feeling very upset.

"Phoebe, wait," Cole tried to call out, "I'm sorry." But he was too late. She had already said the spell to transport her back to the Manor.

"Great," Cole spat out, punching the wall, causing the structure to shake slightly. Harry was unsure of how to react.

"Uh, what did you want to talk to me about, Sir?" Harry asked, choosing not to bring up Phoebe just yet in their discussion.

"The article in the Quibbler," he replied walking back into his office, Harry following him closely behind. "It comes out tomorrow and we need to make sure that it's well spread."

"Okay, but how do you propose we do this?"

"If Umbridge finds out about it, then she will almost certainly ban the magazine."

"That'd be bad, so we should make sure that she doesn't find out," Harry pointed out uncertainly.

"On the contrary, Harry, it would be a very good thing if Umbridge banned the students from reading the article. It'll definitely increase its publicity and those livid on disobeying Umbridge, which is three quarters of the school's population, will definitely read it just to spite her."

"Okay, so how do we make sure she knows about it? Do we send her a copy?" Harry asked, very unsure of how to best approach the situation, but glad that his teacher appeared to have a master plan.

"No. We do nothing at the moment. I'm sure an opportunity will present itself and when it does, we need to be subtle. We need to act like her banning it is definitely not what we want, okay?"

Harry nodded, grateful that Cole was taking charge. "So, about Phoebe?" Harry began to say, but the glare radiating from his teacher's face told him that this was not a subject he should put effort into pursuing. "Never mind," he said quickly.

"You said you had homework to do?" Cole questioned, his tone telling Harry that the man was trying to get rid of him.

"Yeah," he replied as he got up and walked towards the door, "Night, Sir."

"Goodnight, Harry." And the young wizard walked quickly back to the Gryffindor common room, anxious to share with his friends what Cole had told him about the Quibbler article and, of course, gossip about what went on between their Galeic Magic teacher and his ex-wife.

**oOo**

Cole spent the next few days planning his attack on Umbridge. Above all else, he needed to make sure that she did not have ammo to fire him with. Within is hours of confiscating and destroying Harry's fan mail, she released another Educational Decree, stipulating that anybody found in possession of the Quibbler would face expulsion from the school. Taking delight that the article was getting to Umbridge so, 

Cole and Hermione posted it along every corridor in Hogwarts using the Permanent Sticking Charm.

Almost every single student in the school took delight in watching Umbridge and Filch attempt to remove the articles using every spell and charm under the sun. Cole soon found out that Umbridge had a shrewd idea that he was responsible for the vendetta.

He also managed to conjured magical beings that looked like a cross between elves and gnomes, who would spend their time quoting the article to anybody they could find. They had definitely been a source of great annoyance to Umbridge, who locked them in a cage in the dungeon, but for some unknown reasons (like Cole's intervention) they kept escaping to infuriate the High Inquisitor once more.

Entering his office late, three nights after the incident began, she slammed the confiscated articles down on the desk.

"I know that you're responsible for this. I told the Minister that you were not to be trusted. He only kept you around because of your affiliation with the Elders from your world."

"Let me guess, Fudge dare not go against their wishes. Is he so cowardly?"

Umbridge went red in the face at Cole's remark, while he smiled smugly.

"There will come a day, Turner, when Dumbledore no longer has the power to rule over this world. And when that power dies out, so will you!"

And she turned and left, slamming the door behind her.


	20. Don't Give Up Part 1

A/N: Chapters 20 and 21 involve the episode 'Used Karma' in Season 6 of Charmed.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from either Charmed or Harry Potter and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Twenty: Don't Give Up Part 1**

"No. Jaxon, yummy. That's it yummy. Eat. Eat," Cole told his little boy, making faces at him. He then took a mouthful of the macaroni and cheese in an effort to get Jaxon to copy him. "Look, yummy, yummy, oh my god! This is disgusting!"

The little boy laughed, telekinetically throwing the plate into the wall.

"Phoebe," Cole called out to her as she was talking to Jason, "Please tell me that you did not cook this."

"I think she did, yeah. I think she did," he said in a mocking voice to his son.

"Yeah!" Jaxon replied loudly and then laughed.

Cole then, noticing Jason for the first time, grabbed on to his son's arm and shimmered the both of them upstairs.

"What was that?" Jason questioned after hearing Cole's voice call out to Phoebe, "Who said that?"

They walked into the kitchen, where Cole and their son had been eating dinner moments earlier. Since they were having dinner that night at the Manor with Paige and Richard, Piper had cooked a lovely meal for them with the high hope that Phoebe would finally tell Jason about magic and Jaxon.

"Um, probably Leo, did you say something Leo?" Phoebe replied, hoping Leo was somewhere in the house and would go along with this ploy.

"What?" the Elder replied, walking around the corner, "Oh right, yeah, um..." He continued, catching Phoebe's eye and getting the hint immediately.

'_Thank God for Leo,'_ Phoebe thought, very weary that she had nearly been caught AGAIN.

"No, I didn't cook," Phoebe then said very quickly, answering Cole's question but directing it at Leo.

"Who ate the mac and cheese?" Jason asked, breaking the silent tension.

"Um, probably Wyatt, look do you wanna wait in the living room? Richard's in there. I just need to get something from upstairs and I'll be right down." Phoebe said this all very quickly, wanting to take care of Cole and Jaxon soon.

"I'll show you there," Leo told Jason, placing his hand on the other man's back and ushering him into the other room.

**oOo**

Meanwhile, upstairs in Phoebe's bedroom, Cole was trying to convince Jaxon that they were playing dead soldiers.

"That's it, Jax," he said soothingly, "Nice and quiet, otherwise Mummy will vanquish me."

Jaxon laughed and ran to his mother as she entered the room.

"I thought you said you'd be gone before Jason got here," Phoebe began, rather annoyed.

"Well, I thought you said that you'd be coming around with him at six," Cole started to say, equally as annoyed, "It's only five thirty. I was going to feed him here and then bring him to Hogwarts. And you really need to tell Jason."

Jaxon looked up at his parents with little comprehension of why they were fighting. The look on his little boy's face told Cole that he was better off leaving the argument until after they were out of the eighteen month old's earshot.

"Look, I'll come by with Jaxon later tonight, hopefully after you told him..." Cole was cut off.

"NO! Look I will tell him, but maybe not all at once. And I will be the one to introduce _my_ son to _my_ boyfriend," Phoebe began to yell, but then remembered that Jason was downstairs and she would not allow herself to be overheard.

Cole looked furious that she had, once again, denied his right as a father, but he chose not to say anything in front of the baby.

"Look I have to go. I told Harry, Ron and Hermione that I wasn't going to be long. They're watching the other baby for me." And he went to shimmer out with Jaxon when Phoebe stopped him.

"Have you decided what you're going to do with the other baby?" she asked, trying to sound forgiving of their previous argument.

"Not at present," Cole replied shortly, still having the bitter taste of their fight in his voice. And he shimmered out without another word.

**oOo**

Later that evening, Cole found himself in his living quarters at Hogwarts, marking sixth-year essays as two little boys slept on his lounge. They had been watching Tarzan and fallen asleep towards the end, so Cole did not bother to move them. He still had every intention of going back to see Phoebe with Jaxon. But he was constantly drawn away from the essays and drawn back to thoughts of Phoebe's final question. What was he going to do with the younger of the two boys sleeping on his lounge? He had taken care of the little one for four weeks now. He smiled as Jaxon stirred and placed an arm lovingly on the younger boy.

Cole turned quickly when he heard a soft knock at the door and the headmaster entered.

"I thought the boys might be sleeping," he said taking a seat at Cole's desk.

"You know, normally when people knock, they wait for an answer before they come in."

Dumbledore smiled and looked over to the two boys.

"We need to talk about a permanent placement for the young baby. He's nearly a year old," Dumbledore said and then looked expectantly at Cole.

Cole, not understanding the headmaster's vibe replied with, "He needs a loving family, with people who will accept him for being half-demon and not judge him for it. Plus, he'll need protection, so we should make sure whoever takes him can stand 

against the Underworld. They will try to retrieve him for a long time into the future. Demon/human hybrids are rare."

"I agree with everything you have just said," Dumbledore continued, realising that the young teacher had understood his ulterior motive, "But, in all honesty, I think he has all of that already."

Cole finally understood what his mentor had come to talk to him about. "What?! You want me to take care of him?"

"I want you to adopt him. To become his family. He has nobody else and I do not believe that anyone else could love him as much as you. Cole, I know you don't think that you are a good father, but did you see what you gave up for Jaxon? You gave up your invicibility, a significant part of your life, so that your son may have life. You understand sacrifice and that is what having a child to care for is about. It is something that Phoebe is only just now beginning to grasp. You are a good father and you are exactly who this baby needs right now. Now, don't say anything. I want you to think about it. Long and hard. We will talk more later." He left the quarters.

Cole sat there, stunned by the headmaster's proposition. He had considered it, but he did believe that anybody else had. Feeling worn out by the day's events, Cole simply sat there and pondered on the possibility of having two sons.

**oOo**

Cole found that he was just drifting off to sleep when he heard yet another knock at the door to his quarters. 'My God, what is it now?' he thought to himself angrily as he got out of bed to answer the door. He had put the boys in their cribs a couple of hours beforehand and gone to bed himself.

"Phoebe?" he questioned, opening the door to reveal the mysterious stranger behind it. "What's wrong?" As she came into the light of the torch he was carrying, he could tell that she had been crying.

"I..I just came to get Jaxon," she replied, trying hard not to cry. Then giving up, she crashed her head into Cole's shoulder in hysterical tears.

Cole guided her to the lounge where they sat down. He was left to wonder exactly what he could say to make her feel better. When no words came to mind, he simply pulled her into a tight embrace and stroked her hair gently.

"I'm gonna hazard a guess that it didn't go so well, huh?" Cole finally said, after he had let Phoebe, who had cried for ten minutes and only just stopped, go.

"Piper called Paige and I away to deal with the swarm demons and Richard and Leo tried to keep Jason in the dining room, but he charged into the kitchen looking for me. Then we orbed back in."

Cole let out a low whistle then, seeing the horrified look on Phoebe's face, changed his tone from mockery to sympathy.

"He looked at me like he didn't know who I was," Phoebe then continued, moving from sadness back into hysterical distress, "And I don't this to... I can't let... Jaxon..." Cole, noticing that she was gonna freak out again, pulled her back into his tight embrace, shushing her and rocking her slowly.

Her crying slowed and eventually stopped. She pulled away from him and he smiled at her.

"I'm alright," she told him, with a much more content look on her face.

"You're alright," he replied, repeating her tone, "Jaxon is asleep. Do you want me to bring him back to the Manor in the morning?"

"Yeah, okay," she said as she got up, "Oh crap, I left the shields at the Manor still up. You can't shimmer, orb or magically transport in any way into their. How am I supposed to get back?"

"Shields? Look never mind. I'll shimmer you outside your place," Cole replied, comfortingly.

"No, the boys are here, you shouldn't leave them."

"I'll get Harry to come down and watch them."

Phoebe shook her head. "Seriously, it must be just after three here. Argh, I'll just walk to Hogsmeade and ring Paige to come and get me."

"Wyatt's probably asleep. Same with Paige and Piper. Listen stay here tonight. You can sleep in my bed. I'll sleep on the lounge."

"No, Cole, I can't ask you to do that. I'll sleep on the couch."

"No, I insist." And he steered her towards his bedroom. "You can borrow some of my pyjamas if you want. So, I'll see you in the morning."

She stood up on her tippy-toes and kissed Cole on the cheek. "Goodnight, Cole."

Cole, a little stunned by her display of affection, managed to mumble back, "Goodnight."


	21. Don't Give Up Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from either Charmed or Harry Potter and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Twenty-One: Don't Give Up Part 2**

Phoebe woke up late the following morning, though it was still early in San Francisco. She walked out into the living space of Cole's quarters to see him dressing the two boys, about to take them to breakfast in the Great Hall.

"Hey, did you sleep okay?" he said excitedly.

She nodded as he continued to talk.

"Well, we're going to breakfast. It's nearly ten here, but luckily, since it's a Sunday, breakfast is served until eleven o'clock. Would you like to come? I bet the house elves here could rival Piper's cooking."

Phoebe smiled and nodded. "I'll just change quickly."

Five minutes later she reappeared wearing the tracksuit pants and long sleeve t-shirt that she wore when she arrived on Cole's doorstep earlier that morning.

They walked to breakfast, Phoebe chatting very excitedly to the young boys along the way. As they entered, Harry was the first to take notice of them. He grinned, happy to see the family he always imagined possible for Cole walking through the double door entrance to the Great Hall.

**oOo**

Cole shimmered Phoebe back to the Manor with Jaxon later that day. Deciding that it was better for him to stick around for both their sakes, he took the young half-manticore baby, still undecided over the young child's future.

Phoebe had tried to see Jason again earlier that morning, just after they returned from Hogwarts after breakfast, and had no choice but to admit that her decision to 

keep magic and Jaxon hidden from Jason was a complete and utter disaster. She arrived home to an empty house, well at least she thought it was empty, only to be hit by the bad karma given off by Richard's aura cleanse spell.

With the inherent soul of a French spy and double-agent in her body, Phoebe went on a wild to rampage to seek back her love with all the wrong intentions.

**oOo**

"Cole?" Piper called out, extremely hopeful that Cole could help her deal with Phoebe's current state. "COLE!"

"Shu-shu-shush," he replied, "All three of the boys are taking a nap and you, of all people, know how rare that is."

"It's Phoebe. She's has inherited somebody's bad karma." And together they walked into the conservatory, where Phoebe was being verbally shackled down by Paige.

"What happened?" Cole asked, trying not to look at Phoebe, fearing a reprisal from her altered self.

"Phoebe sacked Jason's merger to the ground," Piper replied smugly.

"What? But that merger was worth millions. Hundreds of millions," he replied frantically.

"Yeah, well we have to deal with Phoebe first," Paige said, looking up from a pile of books.

"Okay, you find out a way to save Phoebe, I'll go deal with Jason. And before you say anything about saving her first, remember that if we don't deal with this, she's only going to wish that we had not saved her."

And with that Cole shimmered up to the heavens, into the realm of the Elders.

"What is it, Cole?" Odin began, walking in his direction.

"I believe you owe me. I have begun to do what you ask. I have installed doubt in the minds of many students at Hogwarts and I have built up a resistance there against Dolores Umbridge."

"Ah, but remember Cole, it was us that rescued your son from Limbo. We owe you nothing."

Cole getting desperate and frustrated at the same time still chose to reason with the old Elder. "Look, we have a partnership here. We help each other out. Now I'm asking for your help, please. I need the Cleaners to fix up that magical mess made by whatever leftover karma possessed Phoebe."

"You're not doing this to save magic. You're doing this to save the woman you love from the implications of her destroying her boyfriend's career."

"And you act like I'm the only one with a hidden agenda. Yes, you want to save good magic in the Hekabeic world and I understand that, but you also don't want to lose the power that you have gained over many millennia to a powerful evil like Voldemort."

The Elders said nothing. They knew that he was smart and that he would see through their facade, but they did not expect him to use that knowledge against them.

"Fine," Odin began, "We will help you. The Cleaners will take care of the mess made and we will rewrite history in the minds of those present at the merger. They will believe that the whole thing went flawlessly."

"Thank you." And Cole went to shimmer out, but he was stopped by Odin.

"And Cole, don't ever insult us again."

Cole stared cruelly into their eyes and shimmered out.

**oOo**

_Knock, knock._ Jason Dean looked up from his desk. Something had fixed his career, he had no idea who, but he knew that it must have been done magically.

He went to allow the stranger to enter his office to see that it was a tall, dark-haired and exceptionally handsome man standing in his doorway.

"Good evening. You must be Jason," Cole asked, extending his hand to the shocked man, who took it, still a little confused.

"And you are?" he questioned politely.

"I'm a friend of Phoebe's," he replied, not wanting to reveal his true identity just yet, "I want to talk to you, so I ask that you give me a couple of minutes."

"Did she send you?" he asked, letting the man into his office and taking a seat.

"No," Cole replied, also taking a seat, "But I am here for her sake. And Jaxon's. So let me talk."

Jason waved his hand and allowed Cole to continue.

"You're a good guy. You're good for Phoebe and you're good for Jaxon. And I know that Phoebe lied to you for months, but she has a problem with this sort of thing and she was worried about how you would react. And Jaxon is an amazing boy. You should really get to know him. He's only eighteen months old and he's already talking a bit."

Cole smiled as he continued to speak about his son.

"You seem really attached to Jaxon. And Phoebe," Jason began unsurely, "How do you know them?"

Cole let out a long sigh and decided to tell the man the truth. "Jaxon is my son."

Jason took this in and collected his thoughts for a moment. "Wait a sec. You're Phoebe's psycho ex-husband. Cole, right?"

"I'm not so mad anymore, but yes, we were married," Cole replied with as much dignity as he could muster, "Look, this isn't about whatever I had with Phoebe and I'm not here to rain on your thunder. You're the better guy and it's that simple. I just want them to be happy."

"You're still in love with her," Jason said in a low voice, staring the other man in the eye, "Quite understandably."

Cole nodded slightly but did not reply.

"I get that you want Phoebe to be happy with the right guy," Jason continued, "But it isn't me. I can't take this magical realm. It's so far out of my reality. I'm still shocked by these revelations. And I don't know what to do about Jaxon. Like you said, he's a good boy, and he deserves better."

"Hmm," Cole shrugged, "I have said all that I want to say. The rest is up to you. But don't give up on Phoebe. If you two really love each other, you will get through this."

And Cole turned and shimmered out, leaving the mortal speechless at the other man's method of transportation.

**oOo**

Cole spent the entire night in front of the fire in his living quarters at Hogwarts. He could not sleep. All he could do was ponder his life with Phoebe, with Jaxon, and with the little baby that he had yet to name.

Taking the advice that he had given Jason earlier on that evening, Cole decided to adopt the baby, regardless of how he viewed his parenting abilities. He knew that he 

couldn't give up on the relationship that he had built up with the boy and, looking hard at his feelings, decided he loved the child as much as Jaxon. The baby was his son, too.

'_But what to name him,'_ Cole thought to himself.

He had already chosen the surname of Turner and a middle name of Derek, which was for his biological father, but did not yet have a first name. He considered many names, but finally, after many hours, chose one.

Very early the next morning, Dumbledore came to visit Cole in his quarters.

"I knew what you would decide," Dumbledore said excitedly after Cole told him of his plans to adopt the baby, "Which is why I brought something for you."

Cole smiled and looked around to see what his gift was.

"Dalton," Dumbledore called into thin air. Then, suddenly and quite magically, a well-dressed house-elf appeared in front of them.

"Dalton has taken up Dobby's choice to wear clothes and I thought you would love to have a helper. He has child-minding experience and has been one of the elves to watch both your sons on a number of occasions."

Cole was ecstatic. He felt his chances at being a good father had dramatically improved. He looked at the very neat elf. He was wearing black shoes, black pants and a white collared shirt. Unlike Dobby, this elf had adopted a very Westernised human approach to clothing.

"Thank you so much, Sir," Cole told Dumbledore, "And I have decided to call him Julian. Julian Derek Turner."

--

A/N: Yes people, I did choose Julian because of Julian McMahon who portrays Cole in the series and because of the brilliant Aussie actor that he is.


	22. Flight and Fight

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from wither Charmed or Harry Potter and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Flight and Fight**

Minerva McGonagall walked swiftly down the Southern corridor in the school after taking Harry and Marrietta Edgecombe to their dormitories. She was desperately hoping that Cole Turner was in his quarters, oblivious to what had actually gone on that night. With the most recent departure of the headmaster, the leader of the Order, McGonagall had no choice but to turn to Cole, Dumbledore's right-hand man.

She knocked on his door quietly, not wanting to draw any attention to herself. He answered it and allowed her to enter.

"What is it, Minerva?" he said quietly as she entered, concern filling his voice, "What has happened?"

"Dumbledore has escaped from Fudge's clutches," she explained quickly as soon as he closed the door behind her, "Umbridge found out about this rebellion that Potter had going," Cole looked down to his feet but McGonagall did not notice, "and used the information to try and have him expelled. Dumbledore intervened, telling Fudge that it was all his plan, and now he is gone."

"At least not arrested," Cole said, "It would be a sorry affair for the Order if their leader was behind bars in Azkaban."

"Nonetheless, we need to be very careful, especially you. With Dumbledore gone, Umbridge will not hesitate to find a way to fire you, maybe even arrest you."

Cole sighed. "I think I should take Julian to the Manor. It's probably not safe for him here anymore."

"Is it safe for him in the open in San Francisco?" McGonagall questioned, intently listening to his answer, "What if more Manticores, or any other demons for that matter, try to take him?"

"With Dumbledore out in the open," Cole began, "I think they will be more concerned with him. But you're right, he may be in danger. There are demons that will still want to raise him evil. His hybrid nature would make him quite powerful."

Neither teacher said anything then. They were both lost in thought.

"I should be leaving, now," McGonagall finally said, breaking the silence, "If Umbridge finds us talking immediately after Dumbledore's departure, she will be very suspicious."

Cole nodded and let the other teacher out of his room.

"Be careful, Minerva," Cole said lightly, "I don't want anything to happen to you. These students here need you, a lot more than they need me."

McGonagall gave him an appreciative glance before heading back down the corridor. Cole closed the door behind her, knowing exactly where his mentor would head in his time of great need. Heading to his youngest son's room to wake him up, he looked forward to finally achieving the magical cooperation between the good magical beings in the two worlds that he had been ordered to accomplish.

**oOo**

Phoebe was washing up after dinner when she sensed Cole in the room. Without even turning around, she spoke to him.

"How long have you been there?"

"Not long," he replied, smiling widely, "How did you know I was there?"

"Oh, I know when you're there, Cole," she replied, smiling just as widely back at him, "I want to thank you for helping me through what happened with Jason. I know you have no obligation to me anymore, so thanks."

Cole didn't reply. He was not ready to tell Phoebe exactly how much he had done on the Jason front. He wasn't ready to accept her back into his life yet. She didn't know about the Cleaners and she didn't know that he had spoken to Jason in an effort to convince him to take her back. She would probably question his intentions.

"Anyway," Cole went on to say, changing the subject, "Dumbledore has been forced to leave Hogwarts."

"What?" Phoebe dropped and broke the dish she was drying with a towel, "He's gone?!"

Piper and Paige rushed into the room to see what the commotion was about.

"Cole?!" Paige blurted out, "What did you do?"

"Me?!" he shouted back before Phoebe cut across him.

"Dumbledore's left Hogwarts," Phoebe explained as her sister's mouths dropped. They said nothing as their eyes goggled.

"Don't worry," a deep voice said behind them, "Hogwarts will be fine."

A moment later Dumbledore removed his invisibility and showed himself.

"Sir?" Cole began, "Is there any way you can come back? Do you know what Umbridge will do now that you're gone?"

"I trust that she will further install thoughts of rebellion in the minds of many students, which is something we may need. Don't worry, Hogwarts will survive this. It has been through worse before."

"What about you?" Cole continued, "Won't the Ministry be looking for you?"

"I will be safe here, I think," Dumbledore replied, overlooking the dubious looks radiating from the Charmed sisters.

Cole shrugged and shimmered out.

"Wait, Cole," Phoebe called out, but he had gone.

The three sisters turned to look at the old wizard.

"Would you like some food Professor?"Piper asked him overly politely.

"Oh, no thank you, Piper," he replied looking around at the Manor.

"Right," Paige began, "We'll be right back." And she practically dragged her sisters upstairs, leaving the old man alone in the dining room.

"Okay, he can't stay here," Paige continued to say as soon as they were out of earshot, "What happens when demons attack?"

"Um, Paige, I'm pretty sure he can protect himself,' Phoebe answered, "He defeated Grindelwald and is the only magical being still alive that Voldemort feels threatened by."

"Okay," Paige replied, conceding the point, "But he's gonna cramp our style."

"Look, we're gonna be under attack from Voldemort a lot in the future," Piper started, finally saying something, "We need to be able to work with him, so I say, we start now, especially since we just discovered Magic School. It's time for our two worlds to work together, which I think is the purpose of Cole working at Hogwarts."

Phoebe nodded in agreement and Paige could see that she was going to be overruled. They returned to the kitchen to see Wyatt and Jaxon looking up at the old wizard. Jaxon smiled, and Phoebe could tell that he was concocting a plan. Quite suddenly, the tall wizard hat Dumbledore was wearing magically flew off his head and over the head of Wyatt. Jaxon giggled as Wyatt screamed for his mummy to get it off him. Dumbledore merely chuckled.

**oOo**

The following night, Phoebe was writing out a few defence spells that they could use against the Death Eaters. Dumbledore's extensive knowledge about the nature of the Death Eaters definitely worked in Phoebe's favour as she wrote out spell after spell.

"Have you spoken to Jason recently?" Dumbledore questioned, quite out of the blue.

Phoebe was so taken by the question that she simply answered, "No."

"Pity. Do you know about what happened after you saw him last?" Dumbledore continued to question, not at all perturbed by Phoebe's shock.

Phoebe didn't answer, but she could tell it was a rhetorical question. Dumbledore knew that she hadn't and he knew that Cole was afraid to tell her. Instead, he thought he would enlighten her.

"Cole fixed the magical chaos that you created in France. He begged the Elders to ask the Cleaners to fix it, which they did. Then he asked Jason to give your relationship another chance."

"Why would he do that?" Phoebe questioned, somewhat sceptical of what Dumbledore was telling her.

"Because he wants nothing more than your happiness, Phoebe. He brought Jaxon back to you for that reason, not just because you would make a good mother."

Dumbledore left her alone in the attic to think about what he had told her. Phoebe knew that he spoke the truth. It was exactly the kind of thing that Cole would do for her. Whilst she loved the romantic gestures, why on Earth would Cole try to fix her relationship with someone else if he loved her so much? _'Was he finally letting me go?'_ Phoebe asked herself, _'Just when I wanted him back.'_ Hearing Piper call her name, Phoebe picked up the notepad of spells and walked downstairs.

**oOo**

'_Maybe this wasn't such a good idea,'_ Phoebe's inner voice said. She was heading down the Southern corridor at Hogwarts late at night, desperately hoping not to be found by the school's new headmistress, but she needed to see Cole.

She knocked on his door and he answered it a few moments later, still wearing his robes.

"Weren't you sleeping?" Phoebe asked kindly. Cole shook his head and gestured Phoebe to sit down. She could see his floor was full of books on a range of Hekabeic magical concepts including ones on Occlumency, wished she guessed were for Harry.

"It's not safe for you to drop by here, Phoebe," Cole told her softly, "If Umbridge finds you here, I don't want to know what she would do, but she has ordered that the school remain separated from the influence from our world, since she knows that's where Dumbledore is."

"I had to talk to you, Cole," she said. He beckoned her to continue. "Dumbledore told me about what you did about Jason. Do you want to tell me why you did it?"

Cole stared at the fire for a bit before he answered her. "Jaxon should have someone he could look up to, and the way this war is going, I'm probably not going to be around long enough to be there for him. For either of you."

Phoebe looked away from him. She did not want him to see the anguish in her eyes.

"Cole..." she began, but Cole cut her off.

"You should be with Jason. That's the end of that story. That's how it's meant to be. You said it yourself, we were never meant to be. My destiny lies here with the bridging of our two worlds, but yours does not. You should have to suffer the hardships of this war and I don't want you to. I'm happy for you and Jason."

Phoebe felt anger growing behind her voice. This was not what she wanted to hear. "Are you telling that all you have to say for yourself is that you're happy for me and another guy?!"

"Keep your voice down. You'll wake Julian," Cole replied calmly.

"Don't tell me to be quiet! I don't know why I keep trying to make things work with you. Maybe I was right last year. Things will never work between us."

"Why are you getting so angry about this? And besides, I'm always the one fighting for our relationship Phoebe. Do you remember what I did for you last year?!"

That was the last straw for Phoebe. She was not interested in spelling out her feelings for him. "You know what, Cole? Just forget it. If you haven't figured it out yet then you're probably not going to. Just forget it."

Phoebe angrily shuffled to the door, pushing it open so she could leave, but Cole closed the door in front of her.

"Wait, Phoebe..." he started to say, but she cut him off.

"No, Cole! I don't care. Get out of my way!"

The look on Phoebe's face told Cole that it was better for him to just let her go.


	23. Without a Trace

Disclaimer: I don't own anythign from either Charmed or Harry Potter and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Without a Trace**

Cole sat, fuming, in an armchair by the fire in his living quarters. _'My God, Phoebe,'_ he kept thinking to himself, _'Everything we've been through speaks for itself. We're not meant to be together.'_ He continued to tell himself this, but had a very difficult time believing it. He still loved her more than she would ever know, even with her empath abilities, but knew that he could not go down that road again for both their sakes. It was even worse for her now because of his involvement in the war. The one thing that he and his inner voice agreed on was that she didn't deserve to be alone.

Cole went back to his reading. He was studying up on everything there was to know about Voldemort. With Dumbledore gone, his main source of knowledge had left too. Cole was still desperate to discover who would be attacking the Charmed Ones next and when. He wanted to do what he had been doing all year- stop them before they got to the girls. He had had success with the last eight demons that Voldemort had sent after them with his Death Eaters. Whilst he had managed to destroy the demons, he still did not know a way to effectively kill the Death Eaters. They blocked his energy and fireballs.

He stopped reading and looked into the fire. He used to be able to use it to communicate with the Order, but now Umbridge was policing all fires, so he had nobody to talk to. He was considering taking Julian and Dalton to the Manor. Things were getting too difficult at Hogwarts, so they were better off there. But the most recent argument with Phoebe made him decide against it. He was only going to use it as a last resort.

"Dalton," he whispered loudly, calling his house-elf who appeared immediately, "I'm going down to the Underworld tonight. I've let Professor McGonagall know, but if I'm not back by tomorrow night, take Julian and go to the Manor, okay?"

"Of course, Sir," the elf replied politely.

"Thank you, Dalton. Please be careful while I'm gone. And I'm more worried about Umbridge than I am about demons." Dalton bowed his head in acknowledgement and transported back to his room.

Cole set off to shimmer down to the Underworld.

**oOo**

He had been wandering through the dark caverns, caves and lairs of the Underworld for more than three hours, but Cole had yet to hear a whisper of Voldemort. Most of the demons he came across were going about their usual business, like they had been before the Dark Lord came and took over their world. Cole, finding this odd, chose to be extra careful, but since he was not expecting to see Voldemort, he felt lolled into a false sense of security.

He headed towards the central chambers, once occupied by the Source and saw several demons gathered in a meeting with Death Eaters. _'But no Voldemort,'_ he thought to himself.

He listened in on what they had to say.

"Dumbledore has been gone from our world for more than a week," one Death Eater claimed. Cole recognised that the voice belonged to Lucius Malfoy. "He is hiding in your world. We are sure of it. Probably with the Charmed Ones."

"We're not going to take him out there unless we have a good plan and your boss firmly behind us. Nobody has yet succeeded in bringing down the Charmed Ones, not even the Source," a dark-haired demon explained.

All of the Death Eaters turned and looked angrily at the outspoken demon. They had been insulted by him and wanted nothing more than to vanquish him, but Malfoy talked them down.

"We should send a spy," another Death Eater explained, "Let's send..."

But before Cole could hear who they planned to send to spy on the Charmed Ones, he was hit by an energy ball from behind, which knocked him unconscious.

"Nice one, Delextor," Voldemort praised his demonic bodyguard, "Hold him in one of the cells. I will have uses for him yet."

Several demons then came and dragged Cole's lifeless body out of the chamber.

"The Charmed ones will look for him," Malfoy told his liege.

"They may look, but they will not find him. Now go and make sure everything is prepared for next week. We only have one shot to get that prophecy and I don't want you to screw it up," Voldmort told his servant acrimoniously.

**oOo**

Dalton was very worried. Never before had his master been gone so long, even in the Underworld. Nowadays he normally limited his reconnaissance work to a few hours, maybe a day, but no longer so that Julian would not be concerned about the whereabouts of his father. Now, Julian could sense something was wrong. He was crying and there was nothing that Dalton could say or do to make him feel better. Resentfully, he transported with the baby to the Halliwell Manor.

"Dalton?" Phoebe questioned immediately upon his arrival, "Why are you here?" she asked as she took the crying baby from his arms.

"It's okay Julian. It's okay," she said soothingly, cradling the upset boy in her arms.

"Master Cole has been missing, madam," Dalton replied respectfully, "He asked me to come here with young Master Julian if anything went wrong."

"Cole's missing?!" Phoebe cried out, upsetting Julian once again.

Piper, hearing the crying, came downstairs to check on Phoebe. She saw Julian and Dalton and immediately knew that something had happened to Cole. She went to Phoebe and took Julian from her arms, then told the boy to shimmer up to his brother's room.

Piper offered Dalton a seat, which he took gratefully, continuously thanking her. Normally a house-elf would not take a seat, even when offered, but Dalton was part of the rebellion against conformity and had always been offered a seat by Cole, so was used to it.

The three sat down to listen to Dalton's tale of what happened.

"Master Cole left early this morning for the Underworld," Dalton explained quietly, "I have not seen him since. He did not say where he was going exactly, but he did say that he would be back by this afternoon at around three o'clock. That was six hours ago. I don't think he's coming back."

Dalton looked down at the ground. He had loved his new master, who was always so good to him.

"He isn't dead," Phoebe said in a shaky voice, "I would know if he was dead. I would be able to sense it."

Noticing that her younger sister was on the verge of tears, Piper asked Dalton if he would check on the three boys and make sure that Julian was okay. He immediately transported himself out of the room.

"He's not dead, Piper," Phoebe repeated as her sister put her arm around her.

"I know, sweetheart," Piper replied quietly.

"We had a fight," Phoebe wept, letting the tears fall down her face, "The last thing I told him was to get out of my way. What if he's killed down there?"

"It's not going to happen. He's been in positions like this before and he's always come back. He's not gonna leave his boys without a father. And he's not going to leave you, Phoebe. You don't need to be an empath to know how he feels about you."

This only made her feel worse though, as she cried into her sister's shoulder.

"He was probably so worked up about this fight that he lost perspective in the Underworld. He doesn't get caught spying down there often and especially not with all his powers now."

"You don't know that. You only have to know that he will come back. Okay, Phoebe, he will come back."

Phoebe smiled a little and stopped crying.

"He's going to miss Julian's first birthday," Phoebe told her big sister, "It's this Thursday."

**oOo**

A week passed and there was still no word about Cole. Paige was not allowed to teach his classes by decree of the new headmistress, so instead his class was relinquished and replaced with a 'study period.' Most of the students were very upset by this, none more so than Harry, who didn't know what happened to his favourite teacher.

The Slytherins were cheering at Cole's abrupt departure and Malfoy had the look of knowledge on his smug face, like he had when Hagrid was missing. Harry knew, without a doubt, that Voldemort was involved in Cole's disappearance. He was finding it hard to focus on the OWLs, which were due to start on the following Monday, when he was so worried about whether or not Cole was alive.


	24. The Battle Begins

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from either Charmed or Harry Potter and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Twenty-Four: The Battle Begins**

"Are you planning on holding me here for the rest of my natural life?" Cole asked sardonically to his captor.

"If I were you, Professor Turner," Voldemort began, "I would keep my civil tongue around the presence of such greatness."

"It's only an illusion, mate," Cole replied, laughing at the bald man with cat-slit eyes, "You think you're all powerful, but the one thing you morons all have in common is that you're going to do anything to keep that power. I'll just sit back and wait until you make that critical error, that one moment where your world crumbles, then I'll use it to destroy you."

Cole leaned back against the wall of the cage that he was magically bound in, smiling. He enjoyed getting underneath Voldemort's skin. On one occasion, the day after he was captured, he conjured a banjo and sang 'Kumbaya My Dark Lord.' The Dark Lord returned the favour by halting all magic from entering or leaving the cage, leaving Cole powerless.

It was vital to Cole's survival that he gave the evil warlord a reason to keep him around. He wasn't going to show any fear, and Voldemort was interested in how long that facade would hide Cole's true feelings.

In truth, he was freaking out. He did not know what Voldemort planned to use him for. He could only guess that it would not work in his favour. He may be used as leverage over the Charmed Ones, who would probably come to rescue him.

"I wonder how far your friends will go to rescue you," Voldemort then said after a few minutes of silence, "I wonder who will hear your cries of pain first." And he brandished his wand to torture Cole with the Cruciatus Curse.

**oOo**

"You seem worried," Chris said to his aunt, sitting down beside her, "About Cole?"

Phoebe initially gave no indication of hearing him, but a few moments later she asked him a question, "What's he like in your future?"

"Cole?" Chris replied, "You know I can't tell you. Future consequences. But I can tell you he becomes a much stronger leader. He has more faith in himself in the near future."

"Why?" Phoebe replied, a little startled by this. She wanted to know what caused Cole to change into a more directed and driven man.

"An event that occurs," Chris replied, trying to be as ambiguous as possible, "Not long before my first birthday. I can't tell you anything about it, but it shocks a lot of people into action."

Phoebe looked at her nephew, hoping he would reveal more.

Chris shook his head and got up to leave. He stopped and turned around to Phoebe and said, "Try to learn as much as you can from Dumbledore. He can teach you a lot about magic." And then he left the room, leaving Phoebe there to ponder if the event had something to do with Cole's mentor.

**oOo**

Cole woke up with a start. Malfoy had kicked the side of the cage that he was sleeping on and was now proceeding to unlock it. He had five hooded Death Eaters behind him, all with their wnads drawn, and Cole found himself magically bound with cords around his wrists.

"Time to go, Turner," Malfoy spat out, grabbing Cole by the arm and dragging him out of the dungeon.

"Go?" Cole questioned, "Go where?"

"Come with me and shut up," Malfoy replied disdainfully. He had been sick of the way his Dark Lord had treated him all week, making watch Turner around the clock, that he was taking his anger out on the teacher.

Cole decided that it was better to just let Malfoy take him wherever he needed to go. At least, he may find out their plan now. They apparated.

Cole saw the world spin before his eyes, feeling queasy as they reached their destination. Apparition definitely was not like shimmering. Cole looked around and saw long aisles of shelves, all occupying small balls.

Cole felt sick to his stomach as he realised where they were. This was the Department of Mysteries and he was trapped in the room of the prophecies.

"What are we doing here?" Cole asked in a shaky voice, afraid to hear the answer.

"Expecting someone," Malfoy replied smugly, as the Death Eaters around him sniggered.

**oOo**

Cole had no choice but to wait, bound and gagged, anticipating the arrival of this mysterious guest. He had very little doubt as to who the guest was, figuring that Voldemort had finally found a way to trick Harry into the Ministry, and with nobody left at Hogwarts to warn him against it, he surely would. Cole tried everything from telepathy to trying to reach out to Phoebe's empathic abilities, but they did not work. 

He was too far away for her to hear his cries. Desperate he tried to release the bounds and fight his captors.

"Now, Turner," Malfoy began, tightening the cords around Cole's body, "You will be released in due time, but we can't have you running off to Dumbledore to tell him our little plan before Harry arrives." He noticed the look of panic on Cole's face. "Yes, I know that you think we're bringing Harry here. Naturally, why else would we come? You know the laws of removing a prophecy form this room."

"Why doesn't Voldemort come here and get it himself?" Cole spat back at the hooded man.

Malfoy backslapped Cole across the face. "You dare be so insolent as to say the Dark Lord's name and curse him at the same time?!"

Cole said nothing more. He did not want to get the Death Eaters riled up before the fight. He planned to take them by surprise.

"Sir," one Death Eater whispered to Malfoy quickly and silently, "They're coming."

Cole heard Harry, Ron, Hermione and, by the sound of it, Luna, Ginny and Neville as well. Malfoy pulled him towards the light and he saw Harry grab a small glowing orb.

"Very good, Potter," Cole heard Malfoy say next to him, "Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me."

Malfoy and the other Death Eaters pulled Cole further into the light so that now they could all be seen by the Hogwarts students. Hermione gasped as she saw Malfoys wand directed at Cole's neck.

Bound and gagged tightly, Cole had no choice but to watch as Harry attempted to execute a somewhat good plan. However, Malfoy's taunts about the prophecy were getting to him. He looked at Cole to see if they were true. Cole's eyes could not lie. They verified the legitimacy of Malfoy's remarks.

Harry felt betrayed, but seeing as how they were all in danger, he chose not to ponder on it just yet. He concocted a plan, silently telling the other students as he attempted to distract Malfoy and the other Death Eaters. Cole had no choice but to watch as his student's plan unfolded. He was able to escape his captors when the kids began smashing shelves around them, causing prophecies to fall and divert the attention of the Death Eaters.

"RUN!" Harry yelled to the others as he and Ron untied their teacher. Becoming separated from each other, Harry, Hermione, Neville and Cole ran into a room and dived under the desks as they saw the Death Eaters follow.

"Check under the desks," one Death Eater yelled and Cole prepared himself to fight and defend his students.

As Harry stupefied one Death Eater, Cole tried to knock out three more with very powerful energy balls. Seeing, Macnair jump into the room, Cole decided to take him out next. He telepathically sent a desk flying fast at the wizard's chest, knocking into a wall and unconscious.

Cole saw Harry and Hermione run from the Death Eater who had been turned into a baby and followed them out the door, but not quick enough. Antonin Dolohov, the Prewett murderer had flamed Hermione with an awful curse. He had not killed her, but Cole was still not about to let him get away with it.

As Harry and Neville pulled Hermione's lifeless body out of the way of the battle, Cole charged Dolohov with all his strength, throwing him against a set of shelves. Dolohov recovered by wordlessly using the Avada Kedavra curse which, in a burst of green light, threw Cole backwards and over to the other side of the room. It was fortunate that Cole was too powerful in the Galeic world to be killed by that curse, but it still knocked him off his feet.

He jumped up quickly, looking to see where Dolohov had gone. Spotting him, Cole sent a high voltage energy ball in his direction. Dolohov managed to get a Shield Charm up in time, but the force of Cole's attack hammered him to the ground. Cole took his chance to kill Dolohov. He grabbed the athame that Harry had been carrying under his orders and slit Dolohov's neck in one movement. And within a few minutes, the raging battle between the two very strong magical beings was over and Cole stood victorious. However, they still needed to get out of the Ministry.

**oOo**

Phoebe found herself travelling into the Ministry of Magic for the first time under the worst circumstances. Her and her sisters were at the Order of the Phoenix headquarters when Professor Snape had alerted them to Harry's plight. At once, they decided to rush to his aid, apparating or orbing into the Ministry, carrying the Charmed Ones' extensive stash of Galeic potions and spells which could be used to fight and kill the Death Eaters.

She was skulking behind Tonks and Sirius with Paige, whilst Piper was on the other side of the room with Lupin, Moody and Kingsley. They had a plan to surprise the Death Eaters, and if it was executed accordingly, then they should gain an upper hand over their enemy using the element of surprise.

Phoebe was nervous, like she always was before these big battles, but she was also nervous because she knew that Cole was in there. Worried that he was having a hard time trying to save the students, Phoebe wondered how far he would go to protect them. _'Would he die to save them?'_ she worried, keeping her thoughts to herself.

They heard the battle rage in the room next to them and prepared themselves to join it. Then, in one swift movement, they threw open the doors and catapulted themselves to the battle below.


	25. To The Rescue

A/N: Hey everyone. I have two chapters left and I hope to be finished the today. If I do, I will update and complete this fic tonight.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything form either Harry Potter or Charmed and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Twenty-Five: To The Rescue**

Cole saw the double doors spread wide open to make way for Tonks, Lupin, Moody, Sirius, Kingsley and the Charmed Ones. He felt proud as he saw Phoebe levitate and kick a Death Eater across the room. _'At least I taught her something useful,'_ he smiled to himself, then dragged his mind back to the skirmish.

Cole moved from Macnair to Malfoy to Rookwood, swapping opponents with the other members of the Order as it suited them. He was also doing his best to watch out for the Halliwell sisters, not just because they weren't accustomed to wizard's duels, but also because he would not forgive himself if anything happened to them.

The battle raged on like this for at least an hour and claimed many injuries. Leo turned up and tried to heal as many Order members as he could, but the Death Eaters noticed this and started to target him. Chris, jumping into action after arriving late, did his best to protect his father from the Death Eaters using his Wiccan powers. They turned into the ultimate team with Leo healing the many injuries sustained by members of the Order and Chris deflecting the curses, charms and hexes that flew at the Elder while he did this.

Cole was feeling very weary and was starting to worry that his mentor did not get their plea for help. However, after a long battle, Neville announced, quite incoherently, the arrival of the former headmaster of Hogwarts. Cole turned around to see Dumbledore rushing down the steps, just as he saw a jet of black hair dash past him towards Bellatrix. Sirius was presently fighting the female Death Eater, but it seemed that neither were gaining the upper hand, until Sirius made a critical error and was knocked backwards into the opening of the veil.

Cole did not understand what the veil was, but he sensed there was no coming back for Sirius. He ran to stop Harry, eventually letting the boy go to fight Bellatrix. Then the reality hit him. Sirius wasn't coming back. The battle had claimed its first victim for their side. Cole dropped to his knees, lost in his own anguish. He was consumed with guilt, since it was he that left Sirius alone to fight Bellatrix so that he could fight Macnair, as well as sorrow. He had made such good friends with Sirius, and now one of the only men to truly understand him was dead.

Cole's thoughts were interrupted by Phoebe's screams. She felt an aura of evil come through the doors and into the room where the battle was taking place. She looked up to see Lord Voldemort, standing less than five metres away from her. The fear sent a chill down her spine, one which she couldn't suppress no matter how hard she tried. She was finally face to face with the dark Lord Voldemort.

Cole ran to Phoebe's side, but Voldemort simply walked straight past them and towards Harry, who was fighting Bellatrix. She was trying to summon the prophecy, which would not come because Harry had broken it.

"No!" she shrieked, "It isn't true, you're lying! MASTER, I TRIED, I TRIED, DON'T PUNISH ME!"

Cole knew that Voldemort's Death Eaters could sense him too, but Harry was so focused on destroying Bellatrix that he ignored the sudden sharp pain in his forehead.

"Don't waste your breath!" he yelled back, realising the increase in the pain in his forehead, but still ignoring it, "He can't hear you from here!"

"Can't I, Potter?" Voldemort finally spoke. Cole was helping Phoebe to her feet, his arm around her waist watching the evil lord motion towards his student. As soon as Phoebe was up, he let go of her and ran towards Harry, looking around anxiously for Dumbledore.

"So you smashed my prophecy?" Voldemort asked, staring into Harry's eyes. Cole had stopped a few metres away from Harry so that Voldemort would not see him and watched the exchange intently. "No Bella," Voldemort continued, "He is not lying... I see the truth looking at me from his worthless mind... months of preparation, months of effort... and my Death Eaters have let Harry Potter thwart me again, and with what? A pathetic band of Hogwarts students and a bound and gagged half-demon?"

Cole felt a surge of pride as he realised that his students had done just that. They taken everything he and Harry taught them at the DA and used it to foil the plans of the most powerful source of evil alive. He noticed Bellatrix sobbing and begging for Voldemort's forgiveness.

"Master, I am sorry, I knew not, I was fighting the Animagus Black!" she wailed, dropping to her knees, "Master you should know –"

Voldemort cut her off. "Be quiet Bella. I shall deal with you in a moment. Do you think I have entered the Ministry to hhear your snivelling apologies?"

She tried to talk, but Voldemort was no longer listening. He turned his attention back on to Harry and Cole knew that he was planning to attack the boy, so he readied himself.

"I have nothing more to say to you, Potter," Voldemort said quietly, "You have irked me too often, for too long. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Cole reacted fast as he saw Voldemort lift his wand. He bolted towards Harry, knocking him off his feet. However, Cole was not fast enough to move himself. He was directly in the line of fire and closed his eyes as the bolt of green lightning hit him in the chest. His lifeless body was thrown across the room, bloody and beaten.

"COLE!" Phoebe yelled, seeing her beloved ravaged by the force of the curse. She ran to him, dodging hexes and curses from wordless wand-wavers on her way there.

She bent over his body to see that he was not moving, but bleeding profusely from a wound in his chest where the Killing Curse had hit him. _Avada kedavra_ could not kill him, but the force of it was enough to tear open his skin and sap his strength away. He needed to be healed fast, before he bled out, but Phoebe could not find Leo. She screamed for him.

"LEO!" But it was to no avail. He did not appear. Phoebe removed the scarf around her neck, rolled it up and pressed it down on Cole's wound. He flinched a little at the compression, letting Phoebe know that he was still there.

"Cole," Phoebe whispered close to his ear, rubbing his sweaty forehead with her free arm, "You can't die, you can't leave us. Hold on, Cole. Please, hold on." The tears were falling down her face as she leaned in further. "I love you." And she kissed his lips lightly and longingly, hoping he would feel it and stay alive.

Phoebe's attention was then drawn away by commotion as she saw Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, and many other Ministry officials, burst through the 

doors and walk directly to where Dumbledore was, with Voldemort and Harry. They gasped as they saw the dark lord, risen and quite alive.

But Phoebe did not care about them. She was frantically looking around for Leo, still calling out his name. She suddenly saw him, with Chris, Piper and Paige walking directly behind him. Leo, seeing Cole on the ground covered in blood, ran over to him.

"Phoebe-" he started to say, but she cut him off.

"Heal now, question later," she said very quickly.

Leo placed his hands over Cole's wound and began to heal him, but it was not working fast enough. Paige and Chris, noticing this, looked at each and wordlessly agreed to help him. They placed their hands on top of Leo's. There was now a much bigger light coming from their hands and Cole's wound healed up very quickly.

Cole gasped and shook as he woke up with a start. Phoebe held him tightly to her chest and he grabbed on to her for support. Piper, Paige, Leo and Chris then walked over to the group of Order members that were congregating with the injured Hogwarts students. Leo had tried to heal as many as possible, but some Hekabeic curses worked their magic in a way that could not be healed by Galeic magic.

Phoebe helped Cole get to his feet and for a moment they just looked into each other's eyes. Cole knew what had happened when he was out. He knew what Phoebe had told him and wanted nothing more than to kiss her right there, but he needed to find Harry. Instead, he pulled her close into an embrace and told her that he'd be right back, then left her alone in the middle of the room, feeling a little jilted.

Cole took off in Dumbledore's direction. He saw the man talking to Fudge and a few other officials and walked up to them.

"Ah, Cole," the Minister began, "I had no doubt that you would be here."

Cole chose not to answer, but turned to Dumbledore. "Where's Harry?"

"At Hogwarts," his mentor answered him simply, "He is waiting for my return. If there is anything that you want to say to him, I suggest you wait until morning."

Cole nodded, understanding that Dumbledore wished to speak to him first. So instead of looking for Harry, he chose to find Phoebe again. He looked around for her and walked up to the Order members, hoping she would be there.

"Sorry, Cole," Lupin told him, "But they just left. They said something about going back to San Francisco to get the boys from Magic School."

Cole jerked his head in some form of a nod. For a moment he wanted to pursue them, but instead he chose to return to Hogwarts. Julian would be fine with them and he wanted to give Phoebe time to think about what happened today. The last time they saw each other she acted as though she never wanted to see him again and today she told him that she loved him. Cole had to admit that maybe he was a little confused, but pondered on the possibility that Phoebe was more so. He wanted to give her time to sort out what she did feel, without the tension of battle or the argument they had.

He shimmered back to Hogsmeade and walked up to Hogwarts. Entering his quarters for the first time in more than a week, he crashed on his bed, but could not sleep, his thoughts consumed by Phoebe.


	26. After the Sunset

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from either Harry Potter or Charmed and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Twenty-Six: After the Sunset**

It was around two o'clock the following morning and Cole was sitting in the hospital wing at Hogwarts with Hermione, Ron, Luna, Ginny and Neville. Hermione had only just regained consciousness and was still being heavily rained upon by Madam Pomfrey. Neville, Luna and Ginny, whose ankle had been healed by Leo at the Ministry were sitting on the end of Ron's bed, whose arms were heavily covered in bandages.

"So, Professor," Ginny asked, "Do you feel better? We thought you were dead."

Cole laughed. "You can't get rid of me nearly as easily as you could get rid of Umbridge. Speaking of which, is she still in the forest?"

"Probably," Ron shrugged. Nobody looked as though they remotely cared about Umbridge's wellbeing and laughed hysterically.

"How was being held captive by You-Know-Who?" Neville asked Cole very nervously, "Was it hell?"

Cole shrugged. "Yeah, I'll admit I was scared but I didn't let it show. I knew he wasn't going to kill me yet, so I kept annoying him. I even sang 'Kumbaya My Dark Lord' with a banjo I conjured."

The entire place roared with laughter and Madam Pomfrey came into the room to tell them to be quiet. However, it was a soft giggle in the corner of the room, near the door, that grabbed Cole's attention.

The woman walked towards Cole swiftly and stopped about a metre away from him. She smiled, "I was told I could find you here."

"Yeah, I just came to check on these guys," Cole replied, smiling back.

"You all fought so well tonight," Phoebe said turning to the students. Then she spoke to Hermione, "Is that potion that Piper made for you helping?" She jerked her head towards the herbal stew still steaming in the goblet closest to her bed.

"Yeah, I feel so much stronger now," Hermione replied brightly, "Will you thank Piper for me?"

Phoebe nodded her head, but said nothing. She was still unsure of what she was going to tell Cole.

"So, where are the boys?" Cole asked politely.

"Oh, Paige said she'd watch them, but they're asleep now," Phoebe answered quickly. The two made no further conversation. The students looked from adult to adult, hoping that one would say something because the tension was killing them.

"Anyway," Phoebe began as Hermione sighed, glad someone broke the awkward silence, "I should be going. You all probably wanted to sleep."

The students looked at her like she was crazy. They were all, obviously, too wired to sleep. Phoebe started to walk towards the door, crestfallen that she didn't achieve her goal. Hermione gave Cole a long and shrewd glance.

Cole was torn between his feelings. He did not want to start anything with Phoebe if all that was in their future was death and despair, but at the same time, he knew how much he loved her and that love was screaming at him louder than everything else.

He got up from Hermione's bed, taking the leap of faith that his heart told him to, and walked towards Phoebe as she was exiting. He grabbed her arm and, in one motion, pulled her back to him, crashing his lips into hers in a passionate, but at the same time, very loving kiss.

The Hogwarts students cheered and clapped their hands and Phoebe smiled into the kiss. Madam Pomfrey entered the room to tell them off again for making so much noise, but upon seeing the exchange between Phoebe and Cole, she simply smiled. _'At least something good came out of all of this,'_ she thought to herself.

The kiss lasted so long that Ron whispered to Hermione, asking her if it was possible for them to run out of air. They broke apart and Cole wordlessly signalled to Phoebe to follow him to his quarters. They waved goodbye to the students and walked down the corridor to Cole's place at the end.

As Cole opened the door, Phoebe grabbed his hand and pulled him into his bedroom. Once inside, she pulled him down on top of her on the bed, kissing his lips passionately. Cole moaned as her kiss moved down his face to neck, all of a sudden very happy that he wasn't going to get any sleep.

**oOo**

Cole woke up early the next morning. He looked at his clock. _'Seven o'clock. I need to get up and see Harry,'_ Cole thought to himself. He rolled over to see Phoebe sleeping peacefully beside him. He ran his fingers over her naked back and kissed her cheek.

Cole then got out of bed and put a pair of jeans and a Lonsdale tee on and walked out of his quarters. He found himself wondering to the Gryffindor common room. He walked up the dorm stairs and found Harry sitting on the floor in his dorm with a mirror in his hand. Cole walked over to him and sat down beside him.

"You know I lost my father when I was three years old. That was so long ago, now, but I never really had anybody else that loved me like he did," Cole told Harry softly, "You had Sirius and it's cruel that you did not get to spend nearly enough time with him, but it will never change the fact that he loved you and he's going to keep loving you."

Harry was still staring at the mirror. "I wish I could see him one last time," Harry said quietly.

Cole did not say anything, but put his arm around the shoulders of the young man. After a few minutes, he spoke, "You are going to get through this. We all are. Are you worried about what Dumbledore told you?"

"You knew," Harry began but not angrily, "Didn't you?"

Cole smiled weakly and nodded. "Well, Dumbledore didn't want me to tell you and he does have your best interests at heart, but are you at all worried about this prophecy?"

Harry shook his head slightly. "Since what happened last year, I have always known, deep down, that I would be the one to have to finish him off. I only hope that I can."

"Well you know Harry, I stand beside you no matter what," Cole told him standing up and pulling Harry to his feet. He put his hands on the young wizard's shoulders. "I got your back. Forever."

Harry smiled proudly and walked down to the Great Hall with Cole for some breakfast.

**oOo**

Phoebe woke up about an hour after Cole left and rolled over to see an empty bed.

"Houdini act again, Cole," she muttered, getting out of bed and changing into the clothes she was wearing the night before, which were strewn all over the floor around the bed.

There was a knock at the door to Cole's quarters, so Phoebe quickly pulled on her clothes and answered it.

"Leo?" she said, shocked a little, "What... what are you doing here?"

She didn't really want to be caught by her brother-in-law, even though she knew that they all knew where she went the night before.

'Looking for Cole," he replied, not bringing up the subject of what happened between them, "Do you know where he is?"

"No, he disappeared this morning, but I'm looking for him, too."

And the two set off in search of Cole.

**oOo**

They found him at breakfast with Harry. Cole did not want a chat with Phoebe at that moment so he asked if she would stay with Harry while Leo checked up on his wound. Phoebe looked disgruntled but did not argue. After what happened the night before, she did not want Harry to have to bear another chapter in the Phoebe/Cole saga.

Cole walked with Leo out of the castle and into the beautiful Hogwarts grounds, which shone in the fresh Spring morning.

"How are you feeling?" Leo asked Cole as soon as they were out of earshot of the students, "Wound must not be giving you much trouble if you spent the whole night with Phoebe."

Leo smiled cheekily as Cole looked at him vengefully, sitting down on a bench.

"I feel fine. What else is on your mind? You didn't come here just to ask me that."

"I wanted to know if you were planning to teach again next year," Leo admitted as he also took a seat.

"I think that I will. It's important to inter-magical cooperation."

"It's just that I'm worried about Jaxon. Your relationship with Jaxon. I have worked so hard to better my relationship with Chris since I found out that I was a crap father in the future. I don't want the same thing for you and Jaxon.

Cole looked down, deflated by what Leo had said. He knew that it was true, but it wasn't something that he wanted to face. He answered slowly.

"I know, Leo. I know. But I don't know how to deal with it. My being here is so important to everything that I've become. This is not just a job or a calling, it's who I am. I can't just leave, I won't. But I love my son and I want to be a part of his life, too. It'll be a balancing act, I guess."

"Well, I hope that you become very good at this act, because you're right, both worlds need you. Is this why you're pulling away from Phoebe again? I noticed it earlier."

Cole remained silent. He did not know what to tell the Elder.

"Don't," Leo replied simply standing up, "Don't pull away. Regardless of what's going to happen in the future. Your love's so strong it will survive it. It's epic, one big epic romance. You two will get through it."

Cole smiled at his friend, his brother. For truly inside them, that's what they were. Cole stood up and jerked his head in the direction of the castle. The two men walked back to the Great Hall, discussing what they would do with their families on the coming holiday break, when Cole decided to return to the Manor.

--

A/N: I'm sorry if I didn't write a long enough love scene, or any smut, but it's not my style and it wasn't befitting the rating.


	27. Closing the Door

A/N: Hey everyone. This is the last chapter of this story. I want to thank you all for reading it and reviewing. And yes, I have plans to write a sequel for HBP, which I may start soon. I hope you all enjoyed this story.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything form either Harry Potter or Charmed and I am not making a profit from this story.

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Closing the Door**

"So begins the second war, Cole," Dumbledore said quietly from the doorway into Cole's office. Cole was packing away some of his things.

"Unfortunately," he replied, putting some of his books into a large suitcase, "These holidays I'll be staying at the Manor if you need me."

"I'm going to guess that you'll be coming back next year," Dumbledore asked, looking around at Cole's office taking note of the fact that he was only packing around half of his things.

"I plan to," Cole replied finally looking up at the old wizard, "I know that Phoebe will not like my decision and it'll mean that I'll be away from Jaxon more often than I should, but I need to be here."

"Are you going to bring Julian back or leave him with Phoebe?"

"He's going to come back to Hogwarts with me. I can't ask her to be a single mother to two boys. However, I do plan on visiting at least a couple of times a week. If I can manage once a day, then everyone should be happy. Well, happier." Cole shrugged.

Dumbledore motioned towards the exit.

"Wait, Sir," Cole called out, following him to the exit, "I just really want to thank you for what you've done for me, for everything that you've given me."

"No thanks are necessary, Cole. I was glad to have done it."

"No, really, Sir. You have no idea just how much you've given me. You know, when I was sitting up on that mountain a year ago, I found myself asking, 'Which way now?' I was at a huge crossroads in my life and I don't think that I could've made the right decision without your guidance. Thank you. I owe you so much, more than you can possibly imagine. I want to make you proud. I want to make you think that pulling me off that mountain was one of the best decisions you ever made."

"I already think that," Dumbledore answered, putting his hand on Cole's shoulder and then walking out.

**oOo**

Cole took the Hogwarts express back with Julian to London where he would shimmer back to the Manor. He spent the ride home with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Luna as well as several other Hogwarts students that he had made friends with throughout the year. It was a fun and definitely eventful ride home.

Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, who had been waiting patiently for Cole to leave for brief period so that they could attack Harry without the presence of a teacher, found a small window of opportunity when Cole needed to use the bathroom. Unfortunately for them, the entire carriage was full of DA members, who took pleasure in using what Harry and Cole had taught them throughout the year. Julian rounded off the attack by sending three low voltage energy balls in their direction, which hit them directly in the chest, knocking them backwards and singing their robes.

Harry, Justin and Ernie then hoisted them into the luggage racks as Cole walked back into the carriage to hear everyone shrieking with laughter over what had happened. He sat down and politely listened to Ron giving him a blow-by-blow account, swearing the Julian had morphed into some beast-like monster and thrown them across the carriage.

Upon disembarking the train, Cole saw Moody, Tonks, Arthur and Lupin and walked in their direction with Julian in one arm and his luggage in the other. He put his luggage down next to Molly and watched Harry walk over to the Dursleys.

"Well, shall we do it, then?" Arthur asked the group that had congregated. Cole knew what he was talking about but he wasn't sure who else was in on the plan.

"Yeah, I reckon so, Arthur," Moody replied, his eye sneakily hidden under a bowler hat.

Cole walked over with the whole group towards the Dursleys.

"Good afternoon," Arthur said politely, being the first one to talk, "You might remember me, my name's Arthur Weasley."

Vernon Dursley did not look pleased at all. He seemed to be offended by the look of all of Harry's welcoming committee, except for Cole, who was still holding Julian. Subtly, Mr Dursley edged towards Cole.

"We thought we'd just have a few words with you about Harry," Arthur continued brightly.

"Yeah," growled Moody, "About how he's treated when he's at your place."

"I am not aware that it is any of your business what goes on in my house-" Mr Dursley replied indignantly, before he was cut off by Tonks.

"Anyway, that's not the point. The point is, if we find out you've been horrible to Harry-"

"-And make no mistake, we'll hear about it," piped up Lupin.

"Yes," began Arthur, "Even if you won't let Harry use the fellytone-"

"Telephone," whispered Hermione.

"-Yeah, if we get any hint that Potter's been mistreated in any way, you'll have us to answer to," Moody finished with.

"Are you threatening me, Sir?" Dursley demanded.

"Yes, I am," Moody replied.

"And do I look like the king of man that can be intimidated?" he barked back with frustration. Cole took it upon himself to answer the man's question.

Still holding a baby, Dursley considered Cole to be the least intimidating of the group, but he was about to prove the man wrong.

"Yes, I would say so," Cole began in a quiet and slow voice, "You may not be afraid of these freaks. That's fine." The group looked offended at Cole's remark, but it was his voice that was apparently having an effect on Mr Dursley. "Be very aware, Dursley, that I am from the _normal_ world. I know all about your culture and I have very effective connections here in London. So I am warning you, if you mistreat Harry in any way, it'll be the six o'clock news crew outside your house with a story about how terrorists paid you to sneak weapons into this country so that they might 

carry out their most heinous plot yet. And don't think that I won't do it, because I don't give a crap about what might happen to you then. You'll soon find out how very abnormal your life could become."

And Cole walked away from them, smiling. The group of witches and wizards were so shocked by the effect that his words had had on Mr Dursley that they also left without saying another word. Mr Dursley simply stood there, hammered down by what Cole said.

After walking a few metres, Cole turned around and smiled and nodded to Harry, who returned the smile when Julian waved to him.

**oOo**

Cole had only just arrived back at the Manor and was putting some of his things away in Phoebe's room when he was summoned by the Elders.

He appeared in the heavens in a swirl of white light.

"What now?" he asked, then noticing that nobody was around.

"It wasn't the Elders," said a familiar voice from behind him.

Cole turned around to see Sirius Black.

"I thought you were dead," he said, running to embrace his good friend.

"I am. But because of your good affiliations with the Elders, they let me see you."

"You're a whitelighter now?" Cole asked, slightly sceptical.

"Hey, I did good, and lots of it."

Cole laughed, agreeing with his friend.

"You know, you can't tell Harry this," Sirius continued, "Not just because it's against the rules, but also because my death will give him the strength, courage and will to fight on."

Cole nodded, understanding what was being said. "Will I see you again?"

"Probably," Sirius replied smiling, "I'll be around especially for the Hekabeic world. I think I may be needed to guide and protect good witches and wizards there as this battle against Voldemort rages on. I may even be given Harry as a charge, as soon as he's ready to accept me back as only his whitelighter."

"Well, that'll be a good idea. But I agree, not yet."

Sirius gave Cole a long look and then spoke. "You should go now. I promised them that I wouldn't talk for too long. I will definitely see around, no matter what they say." He jerked his head in the direction of where some cloaked Elders were.

Cole smiled. "Good for you, fight the power. So, I guess it's goodbye for now."

Sirius nodded and hugged the man again before he shimmered out. He looked around to see an empty heaven.

"This war will drag everybody together whether they like it or not."

_Fin._


End file.
